Latest update : 2016-05-06
A catastrophic wildfire that has forced all 88,000 residents to flee Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada exploded tenfold in size on Thursday, cutting off evacuees in camps north of the city and putting communities to the south in extreme danger.
The out-of-control blaze has burned down whole
neighbourhoods of Fort McMurray in Canada’s energy heartland and forced a
precautionary shutdown of some oil production, driving up global oil
prices.
Three days after the residents were ordered to leave Fort McMurray,
firefighters were still battling to protect homes, businesses and other
structures from the flames.
More than 1,600 structures, including hundreds of homes, have been destroyed.
“The damage to the community of Fort McMurray is extensive and the
city is not safe for residents,” said Alberta Premier Rachel Notley in a
press briefing late Thursday, as those left stranded to the north of
the city clamoured for answers. “It is simply not possible, nor is it
responsible to speculate on a time when citizens will be able to return.
We do know that it will not be a matter of days,” she added.
Officials warned that the communities of Anzac and Gregoire Lake
Estates about 50 km (31 miles) south of Fort McMurray were “under
extreme threat,” late on Thursday, as the flames spread to the
southeast.
Fire has intermittently blocked the only route south toward major
cities, so thousands of evacuees fled north toward oil camps and a few
small settlements. On Thursday, frustration for those stranded up north
was growing, with some venting on social media sites, demanding answers.
One twitter user posted a message saying, “NO ONE IS TELLING US
ANYTHING!! We’re just sitting in a camp praying to get out!! Give us
answers!!! Please.”
A government airlift of those cut off to the north began from oil
facility airstrips. The premier said some 4,000 people had already been
airlifted to the cities of Edmonton and Calgary as of late Thursday.
Officials said with the fire moving to the south east, they are also
hoping to be able to begin a ground evacuation from the north on Friday
morning.
Although the cause of the fire was unknown, officials said tinder-dry
brush, low humidity and hot, gusting winds left crews unable to stop
the massive conflagration.
The blaze, which erupted on Sunday, grew from 7,500 hectares on
Wednesday to some 85,000 hectares on Thursday, an area roughly 10 times
the size of Manhattan.
Ghost town
Hundreds filled a community centre on Thursday morning in Lac La Biche, a community about 290 km south of Fort McMurray.
Many were second-round evacuees who were ordered to relocate from
temporary refuges closer to Fort McMurray on Wednesday night as the
flames grew.
Other people bunked down in a Lac La Biche high school, its gym converted to a used-clothing station for the evacuees.
Kirby Abo, who came from Fort McMurray with his wife and three
children, said he worried that his job in a recycling depot may no
longer exist when he returns home. “I think it’s going to be a ghost
town for quite a while,” he said.
Fort McMurray’s mayor, who is stranded to the north, said in a
television interview the city faces a long road to recovery and “what
comes next is absolutely daunting, but not insurmountable.”
The winds gave the city a brief reprieve on Thursday by driving the
fire to the southeast, away from populated areas. But officials warned
that the unpredictable weather could quickly shift again.
At least 680,000 barrels per day of crude output is offline,
according to Reuters calculations, or roughly 20 percent of Canada’s
crude production.
The outage is expected to climb as major players in the region cut production.
Authorities said there had been no known casualties from the blaze
itself, but fatalities were reported in at least one vehicle crash along
the evacuation route.
Notley said a water tanker plane slid off the runway in another part
of the province. Police said the two pilots survived, but were taken to
hospital as a precaution.
(REUTERS)
No comments:
Post a Comment