Wildfire approaches Western Canada oil town, forcing some evacuations

A major forest fire is slowly approaching the major Canadian oilsands city of Fort McMurray and people in four suburbs have been told to evacuate, local officials said Tuesday.

The fire, fueled by tinder-dry conditions and high winds, has been threatening the city in the western province of Alberta since last week. It is now approximately 13 km (8 mi) away to the southwest. Alberta Wildfire information officer Josee St-Onge said the fire increased significantly on Tuesday, with winds from the southwest gusting up to 40 km/h (24.8 mph).

“Unfortunately, these are not favorable winds for us and the fire will continue to progress towards the city until we see a change in winds,” she told an online media briefing. “We are seeing extreme fire behavior. Columns of smoke are developing and the sky is covered in smoke… Firefighters have been removed from the fire line for safety reasons.”

The fire has increased in size since the last known estimate of 9,602 hectares (37 square miles), she said. In a statement, the local government said residents of the suburbs of Abasand, Beacon Hill, Prairie Creek and Grayling should leave at 4pm Mountain Time (10pm GMT).

In 2016, a massive forest fire in Fort McMurray forced the evacuation of 90,000 residents, halting oil production of more than a million barrels per day. “This fire activity is very different than (in) 2016… We have an abundance of resources and we are well positioned to respond to this situation,” Regional Fire Chief Jody Butz said.

He declined to estimate how many people were affected by the evacuation orders. He said evacuees were encouraged to leave Fort McMurray, but could remain in other areas of the city if they wanted. Fort McMurray is the hub for Canada’s oil sands industry, which produces about 3.3 million barrels per day, two-thirds of Canada’s total production.

Companies like Suncor Energy, Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Imperial Oil have oil sands projects within 150 kilometers of the city, and many workers live in Fort McMurray. “This will put more people on edge, we’ll have to see if the actual production sites themselves are threatened,” said Martin King, analyst at RBN Energy.

“In 2016, the fires themselves were closing in, so the companies were evacuating people for safety. And of course, the people working at these locations were evacuated and had nowhere to go, so they ended up having to shut down production.”

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)