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Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees head south in mass road convoy Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees head south in mass road convoy
(about 2 hours later)
A convoy of evacuees from wildfire-ravaged Fort McMurray in western Canada began a long drive south on Friday morning after being stranded by the catastrophic blaze since Tuesday in work camps north of the city. A convoy of evacuees from the wildfire-ravaged Fort McMurray in western Canada began heading south on Friday, in a slow-moving exodus that crawled along the highway and through the burned city they had hurriedly evacuated just 72 hours earlier.
A mass airlift of residents that began was also due to resume, a day after 8,000 people were flown out as the wildfire grew tenfold. The wildfire refugees were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday after wildfires breached city limits. More than 88,000 people fled the encroaching flames as ash rained down on them and a smoky grey haze blanketed the roads.
A helicopter led an initial evacuation convoy of 400 vehicles after Alberta Highway 63, the only major road south, was declared safe. The convoy will pass through Fort McMurray where the fire, which threatened to engulf huge areas of the arid province of Alberta, has torched 1,600 homes and other buildings. Most went south, but around 25,000 were directed north, spending the past three days stranded in oil sands work camps, their supplies dwindling as the wildfires grew tenfold.
Officials said 25,000 people had taken shelter in the oilsands work camps to the north of Fort McMurray when the out-of-control blaze engulfed the city in Canada’s energy heartland, burning down whole neighbourhoods. The fire has forced a precautionary shutdown of some oil production, driving up global oil prices. Wary of the fires’ unpredictable spread, officials decided to move them south, where they could better access support services. Led by RCMP cruisers and monitored overhead by helicopters, the convoy will take residents through the remains of their devastated city where flames engulfed neighbourhoods and destroyed at least 1,600 homes and other buildings.
The Alberta government, which declared a state of emergency, said more than 1,100 firefighters, 145 helicopters, 138 pieces of heavy equipment and 22 air tankers were fighting a total of 49 wildfires, with seven considered out of control. Some of the evacuees stranded in the north were also evacuated by plane, with thousands of residents flown to Alberta’s major cities in a series of mass airlifts that began on Thursday.
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. Alberta remains in a state of emergency. More than 1,100 firefighters, 145 helicopters, 138 pieces of heavy equipment and 22 air tankers were fighting a total of 49 wildfires across the province, with seven considered to be raging out of control.
“The beast is still up,” said local fire chief Darby Allen in a video message to residents posted on Thursday evening. In Fort McMurray, the heart of Alberta’s oil sands region, firefighters were still working to save the city’s homes and businesses “The beast is still up,” local fire chief Darby Allen said on Thursday. “It’s surrounding the city and we’re here doing our very best for you.”
Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager of wildfire prevention, said rain was needed. Unseasonably hot temperatures, extremely dry conditions and winds of up to 70km/h (44 mph) helped fuel the fire’s spectacular growth to 100,000 hectares – an area more than 10 times the size of Manhattan, and up from just 10,000 hectares earlier in the week.
“Let me be clear: air tankers are not going to stop this fire. It is going to continue to push through these dry conditions until we actually get some significant rain.” Officials said at this point that a change in the weather offers the only possible hope of halting the fire.
No rain clouds were expected around Fort McMurray until late Saturday, with a 40% chance of showers, according to online forecasts by Environment Canada. “Let me be clear: air tankers are not going to stop this fire,” said Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager of wildfire prevention. “It is going to continue to push through these dry conditions until we actually get some significant rain.”
The Alberta premier, Rachel Notley, said in a press briefing on Thursday night that it was not possible to know when residents would be able to return to the city. “The damage to the community of Fort McMurray is extensive and the city is not safe for residents. 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.” Environment Canada said it could be Sunday before a 40% chance of rain is expected in the area.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, described the week’s harrowing events as the largest fire evacuation in Alberta’s history. Winds helped to shift the fire south-east and away from Fort McMurray on Thursday. The change in direction, however, put the nearby communities of Anzac and Gregoire Lake Estates “under extreme threat.”
“Homes have been destroyed. Neighbourhoods have gone up in flames. The footage we’ve seen of cars racing down highways while fire races on all sides is nothing short of terrifying,” he said. The Alberta community looked “like a war-torn corner of the world instead of our own backyard,” he added. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. As it started in a remote forested area, Morrison said it may have been sparked by lightning.
Officials warned that the communities of Anzac and Gregoire Lake Estates about 30 miles (50km) south of Fort McMurray were “under extreme threat” late on Thursday, as the flames spread to the south-east. The fire started on Sunday, sending thick plumes of smoke over the region. A sudden shift in winds brought the fire to the city’s doorstep on Tuesday, forcing more than 80,000 residents to flee the city.
“It was something out of a movie,” said resident Erica Decker. “It was absolutely apocalyptic, there were vehicles stranded everywhere, the sky was black and orange, there were – and are still – so many people trapped.”
Related: 'Nothing short of terrifying': Alberta wildfires grow eight times in sizeRelated: 'Nothing short of terrifying': Alberta wildfires grow eight times in size
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. Notley said some 4,000 people had already been airlifted to the cities of Edmonton and Calgary late on Thursday. Minutes before she and her family evacuated, she had spotted a small circle of orange flames flickering in the trees outside her house.
Erica Decker, who was sheltering in Edmonton with her young family, described having to flee her home in Fort McMurray.
When she spotted a small circle of orange flames flickering in the trees outside, she knew she had just minutes left in the house she had always described as her dream home.
“As we pulled out of the driveway, we could see the flames reaching our front lawn,” said Decker, her voice shaking as she fought back tears. “We knew we wouldn’t have anything to go back to.”“As we pulled out of the driveway, we could see the flames reaching our front lawn,” said Decker, her voice shaking as she fought back tears. “We knew we wouldn’t have anything to go back to.”
Walls of flames flanked the road as they made their way out of the town. “It was something out of a movie,” she told the Guardian. “It was absolutely apocalyptic. There were vehicles stranded everywhere. The sky was black and orange. There were – and are still – so many people trapped.” She worried it would be the last time she would ever see the house she had always described as her dream home.
On their first night in Edmonton, her two-year-old daughter kept asking for her own bed and her toys. “There was nothing we could do for her,” she said. “Its unbelievably hard to watch a child go through that and not understand why they can’t have the things they want.”
Soon after, her worst fears were confirmed. Images from Fort McMurray showed an empty space where her home once stood in the neighbourhood of Beacon Hill, the scorched front steps the only trace of the bay-windowed house. “I don’t think there’s anything for me to return for,” she said.Soon after, her worst fears were confirmed. Images from Fort McMurray showed an empty space where her home once stood in the neighbourhood of Beacon Hill, the scorched front steps the only trace of the bay-windowed house. “I don’t think there’s anything for me to return for,” she said.
On Thursday, frustration for those stranded up north was growing, with some venting on social media sites, demanding answers. Beacon Hill was among the first neighbourhoods to be swallowed by the fire. The building where Decker worked also burned to the ground. “I don’t have a home, I don’t have a job. Our community, it doesn’t exist anymore. It’s gone. We’re not even sure if there is going to be a city to return to.”
On Thursday, Rachel Notley, the Alberta premier, said it was impossible to map out a timeline of when residents might be allowed to return to the city. “The damage to the community of Fort McMurray is extensive and the city is not safe for residents,” she said. “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.”
Her words came as a tough blow to the tens of thousands of Fort McMurray residents now scattered across the province.
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.”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.”
Officials said that with the fire moving to the south-east, they were also hoping to be able to begin a ground evacuation from the north on Friday morning. For some, such as Rula Labak, a refugee who fled Syria in 2011 and moved to Fort McMurray two months ago, the idea of rebuilding again is traumatising.
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. “My kids, mom say, ‘What [do] we have to do? You said to us we will live there, we will live happy. Why that happened to us?’” Labak told the Globe and Mail in halting English. “That’s very bad. I can’t answer to them anything.”
The blaze, which erupted on Sunday, grew from 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) on Wednesday aided by high winds, scorching heat and low humidity, to some 85,000 hectares (210,000 acres) on Thursday, an area roughly 10 times the size of Manhattan. The family made it to Edmonton, after fleeing a scene that was hauntingly reminiscent of the bombs that had rained down on their home near Damascus. When she and her family first arrived at a work camp that had been turned into an impromptu shelter, her two teenage children burst into tears as the rows of cots triggered their memories of refugee camps.
Related: Wildfires in Canada force evacuation of Fort McMurray – in picturesRelated: Wildfires in Canada force evacuation of Fort McMurray – in pictures
Unseasonably hot temperatures combined with dry conditions have transformed the forest in much of Alberta into a tinder box before the usual spring rains which turn the area green. Morrison said the cause of the fire was being investigated but it had started in a remote forested area and could have been sparked by lightning. The risk posed by the fires curbed oil production in the region, helping to drive up global oil prices. At least 680,000 barrels per day – roughly 20% of Canada’s crude production – was offline by Thursday evening, according to calculations by Reuters.
Bill Patzert, a climatologist at Nasa, said the El Niño global weather system had brought Alberta a mild winter and low snowpack. He said the fire had begun at a time between the snowy season and springtime rains, making the region especially vulnerable. Athabasca Oil Corp said on Thursday that rapidly advancing fires in the south of the city were behind its decision to shut down its Hangingstone oil sands project and evacuate all personnel. In a statement, the company estimated that the fire front was just 3 miles (5 km) away from its facility.
“In a way, it’s a perfect storm,” Patzert said. “It’s been warm, it’s been dry and windy. It’s the in-between period before you’re in the full bloom of spring.” No direct casualties from the blaze itself have been reported, but the 15-year-old daughter of a local firefighter was among two people killed in a vehicle crash during the city’s evacuation.
The winds gave the city a brief reprieve on Thursday by driving the fire to the south-east, away from populated areas. But officials warned that the unpredictable weather could quickly shift again. Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, described the week’s harrowing events as the largest fire evacuation in Alberta’s history. The images emerging from Fort McMurray looked “like a war-torn corner of the world instead of our own backyard”, he said.
At least 680,000 barrels per day of crude output was offline by Thursday evening, according to Reuters calculations, or roughly 20% of Canada’s crude production. The outage is expected to climb as major players in the region cut production. “Homes have been destroyed. Neighbourhoods have gone up in flames,” he added. “The footage we’ve seen of cars racing down highways while fire races on all sides is nothing short of terrifying.”
Related: Have you been affected by the Alberta wildfires?
Athabasca Oil said on Thursday that rapidly advancing fires in the south of the city were behind its decision to shut down its Hangingstone oilsands project and evacuate all personnel. In a statement, the company estimated that the fire front was just 3 miles (5km) away from its facility.
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 had slid off the runway in another part of the province. Police said the two pilots had survived, but were taken to hospital as a precaution.