A giant fireball is visible as a wildfire rips through the forest by Highway 63, 16 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, Alta on Saturday, May 7, 2016.

A giant fireball is visible as a wildfire rips through the forest by Highway 63, 16 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, Alta on Saturday, May 7, 2016.
Photo Credit: PC / JONATHAN HAYWARD

Fort McMurray evacuees could return home starting June 1

Residents of fire-ravaged Fort McMurray may be allowed to start returning to their homes as of June 1, authorities in the western Canadian province of Alberta announced today.

Nearly 90,000 people fled the city in northeastern Alberta as a raging wildfire roared through the oil town on May 3, destroying over 2,400 homes and businesses.

Since then, thousands of displaced people have been living in evacuation centres in Edmonton, Calgary and other cities, or with friends and family.

Premier Rachel Notley set out “a conditional timeline” for the return of residents.

Five conditions

The re-entry plan for Alberta’s “oil sands capital” calls for the first residents to return on a voluntary basis on June 1, with the entire population of unaffected neighbourhoods able to return by June 15.

However, five things need to be in place before residents can return, officials said:

  • Wildfire is no longer an imminent threat to the community
  • Critical infrastructure is repaired to provide basic service
  • Essential services, such as fire, emergency medical services, police and healthcare are restored to a basic level
  • Hazardous areas are secure. (The government is sending 100 truckloads of fencing to Fort McMurray.)
  • Local government is re-established
Heavy smoke blankets city

Heavy smoke from the growing wildfire has set back preparation work within the city this week. The air quality index (normally measured on a scale of one to 10) was an eye-popping 51 at 8 a.m. Wednesday, but fell to 11 by mid-afternoon.

The poor air quality stalled work to reopen the hospital, officials said.

Notley said utility companies have restored electricity to most undamaged parts of the city, but work to restore natural gas service had been halted pending an investigation into the cause of a house explosion in the Dickinsfield neighbourhood on Tuesday. Earlier reports of two separate explosions were incorrect, the premier said.

The wildfire, nicknamed “the Beast,” has in recent days forced more evacuations from oilsands camps north of the city.

The fire has spread steadily north and east of Fort McMurray and now covers more than 423,000 hectares (4,230 sq/km), a surface area more than five times larger than New York City.

With files from CBC News

Categories: Environment & Animal Life, Society
Tags: , ,

Do you want to report an error or a typo? Click here!

For reasons beyond our control, and for an undetermined period of time, our comment section is now closed. However, our social networks remain open to your contributions.