Wildfire guts large swath of Canadian city; 88,000 flee

Canadian authorities are telling all of Fort McMurray's 80,000 residents to evacuate due to a massive wildfire that is said to be destroying parts of the city. Fort McMurray is an oil center in western Canada. (May 4) AP A still-raging wildfire, whipped by strong winds from a cold front that arrived Wednesday, destroyed 1,600 building and houses in the Canadian oil sands city of Fort McMurray and drove out almost the entire population of 88,000 people. The fire could rank as one of Canada's costliest disasters ever, said Steve Bowen of Aon Benfield, a global reinsurance firm. It's the biggest wildfire evacuation in Canadian history,
according to Bruce Macnab, head of wildland fire information systems at Natural Resources Canada. As of mid-afternoon Wednesday, the fire had scorched 25,000 acres. Fort McMurray is the heart of Canada’s oil sands region. The Alberta oil sands are the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Most oil sands projects are well north of the community, while the worst of the flames were on the city’s south side. The fire destroyed 90% of homes in the city's Waterways suburb in the southeast and 70% in the Beacon Hill suburb in the south end, authorities from the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo said. In the neighborhood of Timberlea, flames destroyed a dozen trailers on one street alone. The size and ferocity of the blaze forced firefighters to focus on saving critical infrastructure, such as the single bridge across the Athabasca River – the only way into the city from the south. The fire was so unpredictable authorities had to move the emergency personnel headquarters as flames closed in Wednesday afternoon. The city was virtually devoid of human life as residents heeded Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's plea to evacuate. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Amid the mass relocation, hundreds of trucks, cars, motorcycles and mobile homes were forced to pull over as their engines choked with smoke or ran low on fuel, Fort Murray Today reports. Many drivers sat dazed, with others in tears. Police wearing breathing masks directed traffic and patrolled the highways with stocks of gasoline for stranded cars.