Here' a group hug for our Canadian DUers, family

[malaise]

and friends in Alberta who are facing a horrific wild fire

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36215046
<snip>
A massive wildfire in Alberta, Canada, has moved south, forcing more evacuations on Thursday.

The fire is now 85,000 hectares, or 850 sq km, which is larger than the city of Calgary.

It has grown five times its initial size since it broke out, prompting more than 88,000 evacuations.

The fire started on Sunday in Canada's oil sands region and many oil sands projects have cut production.

The emergency operations centre has moved 300 km south and the evacuation order has widened as the flames spread past Fort McMurray.

There are still no known causalities from the fire but there was at least one vehicle crash with fatalities on the evacuation route.

Eight thousand evacuees currently in camps north of Fort McMurray will be resettled in southern urban areas, officials said on Thursday.

---------------------
Note where the fire stated

[hfojvt]

1. I was flying over Canada on my way back from Europe

and when I looked down, I saw - canals. Well, they sorta looked like canals, and that reminded me of what I used to read about Mars in the 1970s.

I asked somebody what those were - fire breaks in the forests.

Of course, that was well to the east of Alberta.

I hope it is not oil related. That could be hard to put out.

[malaise]

2. It started in the oil sands

What a mess

[Rockyj]

37. Maybe they need to STOP oil sands production...

...and concentrate on other forms of energy instead of fossil fuels.
Sadly, too many Canadians were willing to have Keystone XL run through our country & destroy our environment instead of there's!

[polly7]

5. A perfect storm of conditions: Here’s how the blaze reached Fort McMurray, and why it spread so fast

TU THANH HA

The Globe and Mail Last updated: Thursday, May 05, 2016 11:07AM EDT

Watch the wildfire raging along Highway 63 - VIDEO

The conditions, however, already had all the ingredients for the kind of fast-spreading wildfire that hours later would force nearly 90,000 people, including nine newborns in hospital, to flee on short notice from the Alberta oil town.

The weather, the type of trees in the local forest, the time of the year and the kind of fire propagation were all indicators that the flames would be hard to tame, jumping over the Athabasca and Hangingstone rivers as they spread northward into the city.

“The fire’s behaviour was beyond all control efforts,” Bernie Schmitte, wildfire manager at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry told reporters later in the night.

To make things worse, there had been an inversion, a weather condition where hot air at higher altitude traps down the smoke. However, by the end of the morning, the inversion reversed, Mr. Schmitte said, which would have fanned the flames and smoke further.

THE CROSSOVER

Brian Burnett, head instructor at Wildfire Specialists Inc., an Ontario training school, noted that the Fort McMurray area was experiencing a weather condition familiar to forest firefighters, the Crossover.

The Crossover happens when the numerical value for the ambient humidity is lower than the recorded temperature.

On Tuesday in Fort McMurray, while the mercury soared towards 30C, the humidity dropped to 15 per cent.

“It’s just a recipe for a wildfire. This is such a difficult situation,” Mr. Burnett said in an interview.

Such hot, dry conditions were made worse by the wind which pushed the flames toward the city.

Full article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/albertas-highway-of-fire/article29863650/


http://www.democraticunderground.com/10875786

[malaise]

30. Damn

Thanks sis

[polly7]

34. Thank you malaise for such a thoughtful thread.

My brother in Edmonton told me about 30,000 people have made it there, so far. They're still evacuating those who fled north to the oil camps and those who are stranded there already. Another fire further north just hopped over into Alberta from B.C. So sad. They're pretty much saying all that can stop the Fort McMurray fire will be rain.

[malaise]

35. I can think of nothing more frightening than

wild fires.
I heard that they don't expect rain until the middle of next week.

[OnlinePoker]

51. Were you flying over Quebec at the time?

What you were probably seeing were the powerlines coming from the James Bay hydro stations near Hudson's bay. They have to keep them clear for line maintenance, but also stop fires from taking out the lines.

[redwitch]

3. A friend of ours was there on a business trip and evacuated with everyone else.

So scary! Sparks falling on the line of cars heading to safety! Our friend travels to some scary places for work, he was in Turkey when the random bombings were going on. We never thought the scariest place he'd visit was Canada!

[malaise]

4. Word is that the fire is larger than

New York City

Glad your friend is OK

[redwitch]

7. It is hard to imagine isn't it?

I hope it rains. Buckets.

[malaise]

10. That would help

for sure

[Hortensis]

32. They're planning a 400-car caravan evacuation

along the only road out today, with helicopters flying ahead to make sure the road remains safe to pass.

[malaise]

33. I have to congratulate the government and others in organzing

the evacuations - apparently citizens still matter in Alberta.

[Hortensis]

36. Well, the better part of 88,000 people burning to death

would not have been pretty. And since it's not the population of the lower portions of the Gulf Coast, I'm inclined to think even Republican presidents would put states' autonomy ideology aside to act. Of course, all my most spectacular mistakes in political judgement are due to failure to understand conservative "values."

[etherealtruth]

6. If you can, donate to the Canadian REd Cross

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/fort-mcmurray-federal-response-red-cross-1.3567828

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government will match individual donations made to the Canadian Red Cross to help those affected by the raging wildfire in Fort McMurray, Alta., as federal party leaders rose in the House of Commons to express their support for Albertans.

[Dont call me Shirley]

8. Albertans...

[malaise]

14. Here's a good report

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3297
<snip>
In just two days, the fire engulfing the Canadian city of Fort McMurray in Alberta has seared itself into the North American consciousness. This appears to be the first time in the continent’s history we have seen a city of more than 60,000 residents (officially an “urban service area” rather than a city), located hundreds of miles from any comparable population center, forced to evacuate a furious wildfire. The fact that a city this large is also so remote owes everything to the presence of vast oil sands, the driver that has increased Fort McMurray’s population more than twentyfold since the 1960s. As of Thursday morning, May 5, more than 1,600 structures had been destroyed and 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) burned as the fire continued to burn out of control. According to Reuters, a hotel north of the airport's main terminal had caught fire, but as the sun rose on Thursday, there was no obvious damage to the airport. There were no deaths from the blaze, but fatalities were reported in at least one vehicle crash along the evacuation route. Weather conditions in Fort McMurray on Wednesday were hellacious for firefighting--a high of 89°F, humidities as low as 7%, and powerful winds sustained at speeds as high as 34 mph, gusting to 45 mph. Thursday's weather is not going to be as bad, with highs in the upper 60s and west-northwest winds of 10 - 20 mph. There is no rain in the forecast until next Wednesday, and temperatures are predicted to once again rise above 80°F in breezy conditions on Saturday. The average high for this time of year is just 59°F.

[Dont call me Shirley]

42. I hope the fire permanently ceases the tar sands excavation!

[malaise]

43. That would be a good ending

to a horrible catastrophe

[malaise]

44. Authorities expect the fire to double - they say it's out of control

WTF????

[Dont call me Shirley]

45. Probably the whole area is coated with oil from blowing dried up tar sand.

[renate]

9. how terrible

I can't even begin to imagine the anxiety about losing one's home, heirlooms, photographs, memories... multiplied by tens of thousands of families. It's just heartbreaking.

[malaise]

13. I saw a clip on the news

the sheer number of homes destroyed is heart-breaking

[KamaAina]

11. "which is larger than the city of Calgary"

Hmmm... we all know who's from Calgary, don't we? And he's no longer otherwise occupied.

[fred v]

12. Remember this Hug if Trump gets Elected

Should that happen, you'll be playing America to our Mexico.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Two words our glorious media refuses to utter

Climate change

These superstorms were predicted in the IPPC. Yup, this is a superstorm. It is creating it's own weather and am surprised there are no smoke eaters from the USFS on the way....or if they are, we have not heard

Have you noticed how low key the coverage has been?

Two more words: Climate refugees

[malaise]

17. The Masters' article at #14 nails that part

but M$Greedia won't touch it

[ljm2002]

16. Actually, the number is 80,000 evacuees so far...

...and they are preparing to airlift another 25,000 to safety:

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2016/05/05/raging-wildfire-drives-out-newly-resettled-evacuees/83960660/

Alberta declared a state of emergency Wednesday as crews frantically held back wind-whipped wildfires that had already torched 1,600 homes and other buildings in Canada's main oil sands city of Fort McMurray, forcing over 80,000 residents to flee.

(...)

The raging wildfire engulfing the Canadian city of Fort McMurray showed no signs of subsiding Thursday, forcing officials to relocate thousands of evacuees farther south for a second time and prepare to airlift 25,000 more from camps north of the embattled area.

I don't think I've ever heard numbers like that before in relation to a wildfire. It is stunning.

Hugs all around to our Canadian brothers and sisters. I fear for our planet...

[malaise]

18. Yes those are crazy numbers

Think about the loss to so many people - everything is gone. Thankfully only two people have died and in an accident while evacuating.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. San Diego in 2007 had lose to that number

But was for a couple of days. The level of destruction was not there either

[ljm2002]

20. Wow I didn't know that...

...but still, these numbers are just stunning.

Thanks for all of your reporting, Nadin! We need more local reporting like you do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Let me look at the data, to make sure

I know the stadium became the de facto evac center

Worst than that... memory fails...

one million

The fires forced approximately 1,000,000 people to evacuate from their homes, becoming the largest evacuation in California's history.[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_California_wildfires

It literally burned throughout the county

And thanks I just came from the horowitz event... good news, lots of photos, but do not need that many to actually run. Bad news, debating which one to run of Mr. Horowitz

[malaise]

39. One miillion evacuations

Damn!

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. Roughly 1/3 of the county

[Demonaut]

21. did the fire know that trump was speaking?..sorry, in bad taste..not being covered by our MSM

our news is a joke

[Hekate]

23. Heartfelt thoughts from Central Coast, California going out to Canada. We know fire.

[Monk06]

24. My nephew and his family had to run from the fire Their house is still standing so far

[malaise]

28. Glad they still have their home

This is a major catastrophe and they say no rain until the middle of next week

[laundry_queen]

29. ugh that's awful

hugs to them. A friend/co-worker of mine - her dad works up there and he lost his apartment. We both work for the same company and we think we've lost at least one store up there (we have several). Our company is currently taking care of all the employees that had to evacuate. It's a big deal here (Edmonton). We all know someone who lives/works there.

[malaise]

31. You just know that folks here are connected to many

who have lost everything.
This is huge.

[Monk06]

46. Short term is a mess. Plants are closing because there are no workers to run them and no

Last edited Fri May 6, 2016, 08:30 PM - Edit history (1)

accommodation to even fly them in. My son is there doing NDT scanning on boiler welds They want him to sign up for five years but he is on a 6 on 6 day off 6X12 hour schedule and he's a fly in.

Other workers both support and production as well as those working in supply jobs have to rebuild before they can get back to normal

The insurance bill is estimated to be from $3.4 to upwards of $5Billion so the money will be there but settling claims and reconstruction will take years

The sad good news is that there will be a new construction boom in Fort Mac but a lot of people have lost personal affects that can't be replaces

My nephew and his wife got away with passports and their son's kindergarten drawings and baby pictures but little else

The had a trailer parked south of the fire that they are using to live in but all the gear inside was left behind in the house Then the men left with the vehicles and two new Harley's

They packed so fast they forgot socks

No tears on FB today's so it looks like their house is still standing

[laundry_queen]

47. Glad it seems like their house is okay

Do they have someone who let them know? or they assume it's okay? Funny they forgot socks - there's a website that people are posting too w/dark humor about all the stupid things they DID pack while running for their lives. You can probably find it from the CBC website. It's pretty funny. "forgot passport, remembered mini-eggs"

My friend's dad's apartment is 100% surely gone, as it was starting on fire as it was still being evacuated.

I agree, this is going to be a mess...for instance, my friend's dad cannot go up there to work, as he has no place to stay, and his company (rents large equipment) isn't sure when they will be needed again. He's not technically laid off, but now has no income.

It will be months before people can even get back into the city, as it's probably unsafe.

I agree with the construction boom though. Maybe this time they can build it right (my brother helped build/put his engineer stamp on one of the few subdivisions there that wasn't a disaster, he used to be disgusted with what passed up there.)

[Monk06]

48. Well as they say so far no good. This is from yesterday from a guy whose company stayed behind to

make fire breaks from destroyed houses

They RCMP are giving them hell for not leaving which maintains my low opinion of the RCMP

If you want a problem to remain impeded and unsolved call the RCMP

https://www.facebook.com/darren.fletcher.739/videos/pcb.1295015123845419/1295013913845540/?type=3&theater

[laundry_queen]

50. Oh, don't I know it

My SIL is a city cop (Edmonton) I hear all the time her opinion of the RCMP, lol.

Lots of companies stepping up. It's impressive.

[Tsiyu]

54. Here's a link about the stuff people grabbed

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-fire-what-people-brought-with-them-1.3571040

Just days after 80,000 Fort McMurray and area residents were told to leave their homes, some with only minutes to pack, a Facebook group is sharing a collective giggle over the gaggle of odd items some chose to bring with them.

The conversation, posted to the Fort McMurray's Controversial Humour group, was kicked off by Jennifer Knuth, who shared these pictures of Kraft Singles and snowpants that somehow made it into her suitcase.

With her photos, she wrote:

In this time of crisis when we have lost almost our entire city and packed our whole lives into a car or a suitcase we need laughter. I urge each and every one of you, as you unpack wherever you are, to post a picture of the funniest thing you packed while fleeing for your lives. I shall go first ... Cheese slices and snow pants!!!!! God bless Fort McMurray.

She later added, "I left my childhood photos. But thank God for cheese. I have one pair of pants ... and one pair of snow pants."

laundry_queen, which is the best charity to donate to? I read of one Edmonton charity that was collecting socks, diapers, etc, but I can't remember the name of it. It had a 3-word acronym people were using.

Best wishes to your loved ones and friends.

[LeftishBrit]

25. OMG. Best thoughts to all!

[merrily]

26. To all in that area, be safe.

[democrank]

27. Heartbreaking devastation

Hope everyone gets out safely.

[felix_numinous]

38. ...

We need to reform our infrastructure and budget to handle the inevitable climate change refugee situation. It is upon us.

[malaise]

40. we across the planet although

some countries are reforming their infrastructure

[GOPblows431]

49. I was horrified when I first read of this

Stay safe up there, my Canadian friends.

[malaise]

55. Welcome to DU GOPblows431

[Pastiche423]

52. Keep safe, everyone

[Tsiyu]

53. Late to the huddle

but the pics I've seen make Fort Mac look like a war zone.

My heart goes out to the many displaced people in the area. I can't imagine what they must have experienced or what they're going through now.

After seeing videos of that crazy fire engulfing the town and the highway, I swear I'm going to stop feeling unlucky when it rains too much.