Fort McMurry, Alberta Evacuated; Downtown On Fire, Gas Station Explodes, 80,000 Residents Flee

[hatrack]

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All of Fort McMurray was evacuated Tuesday afternoon, in one of the largest such operations in Canadian history, after a wildfire reached town. A Flying J gas station blew up, homes are in ruins, and downtown was on fire, witnesses said.

Fort McMurray is the centre of Canada’s oil sands industry and the fire forced major operations north of town to evacuate non-essential employees. Fort McMurray is about 440 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, and only one two-lane highway connects the cities. Headlights stretched for hundreds of kilometres through parched boreal forest as residents headed south.

Neighbouring communities in northern Alberta threw their doors open on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning to accommodate the evacuees. Residents of towns like Lac La Biche staffed recreation centres, opened restaurants and struggled to get gas to stranded motorists. Most of the evacuees were bypassing the smaller centres and continuing on to Edmonton.

Sana Rehman and her husband grabbed the title and mortgage papers to their Fort McMurray home, a house they hope is still standing. Their daughter, Shiza, opted to bring her stuffed skunk. As the family drove away from burning homes and businesses, she asked her parents if she would need to go to school the next day. “I just can’t explain. It was just so sad leaving everything behind. It was really scary,” Ms. Rehman said.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/it-was-raining-ash-wildfire-sparks-mass-exodus-from-fort-mcmurray/article29850485/

[NickB79]

1. A forest fire boosted by climate change ravages a town that epitomizes our oil addiction

A town that produces some of the dirtiest fossil fuels on the face of the planet.

[polly7]

2. Update

CTVNews.ca Staff

Published Wednesday, May 4, 2016 7:56AM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, May 4, 2016 10:31AM EDT

All fires in the city of Fort McMurray are currently out, but fire officials are warning that, due to hot and dry weather conditions, the situation could worsen at any time.

Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Fire Chief Darby Allen told reporters Wednesday that crews managed to get some of the blazes under control, but there are still concerns about fires outside the city.

“Firefighting staff have worked throughout the night, and all fires within the city have been extinguished,” Allen said.

But already, multiple homes and businesses have been destroyed, after shifting winds pushed the flames into the southwest of the city Tuesday afternoon, overwhelming firefighters.

The area of Beaconhill appears to have been hardest hit. Officials say that 80 per cent of the homes there have been destroyed but CTV Edmonton’s Breanna Karstens-Smith is touring the neighbourhood and says there is almost nothing left

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/fires-within-fort-mcmurray-extinguished-officials-say-1.2887111

[pscot]

3. Are we having fun yet?

1600 structures and 10,000 hectares burned according to CBC

[pscot]

4. Here's a drivethru

.https://gfycat.com/EnergeticVictoriousAlbatross

We don't go to Hell. We make it ourselves, right here.

[GliderGuider]

5. Canada's first climate refugees