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Wildfires ravage Slave Lake in Alberta, Canada | |
(about 17 hours later) | |
Wildfires fuelled by high winds blazed through more than a third of a town in Canada's Alberta province, forcing thousands to flee, officials have said. | |
Slave Lake Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee said hundreds of firefighters converged on the town to help battle the blazes. | |
Emergency officials were knocking on doors on Tuesday to ensure all the town's 7,000 residents had evacuated. | |
No injuries or fatalities have been reported. | |
Alberta Municipal Affairs said the town's residents were ordered to evacuate on Sunday and that 95% of the town was empty by Monday, with only essential or firefighting staff remaining. | |
Devastating destruction | |
Alberta cabinet minister Thomas Lukaszuk said it was the largest single-day displacement of people in the province's history. | |
Ms Pillay-Kinnee, who toured Slave Lake on Monday afternoon, called the destruction in the town "truly devastating", adding that it would "take a while to rebuild". | |
"It's heart-wrenching as people lose their homes, their livelihood. For myself, I'm just trying to remain focused on the task at hand," Ms Pillay-Kinnee told the Calgary Herald newspaper. | |
Wildfires breached the town late on Sunday, reducing many homes and businesses to collapsed timber. | |
The government centre and library were destroyed by the blazes, while the police station and hospital remained unaffected. | |
By Monday evening, a blaze east of Slave Lake had consumed about 20 sq km (7.7 sq miles), and a fire south of the town had burned 150 sq km (57.9 sq miles). | |
More than 100 wildfires were burning in Alberta as of Monday, and roughly 40 of those fires were considered out of control, local media reported. | |
Fires forced oil companies in Alberta, the country's largest energy producing province, to shut off thousands of barrels of output. | Fires forced oil companies in Alberta, the country's largest energy producing province, to shut off thousands of barrels of output. |
The Canadian government has deployed 1,000 firefighters, 100 helicopters and 20 water bombers to battle wildfires throughout the entire province. | The Canadian government has deployed 1,000 firefighters, 100 helicopters and 20 water bombers to battle wildfires throughout the entire province. |