Fort McMurray obliterated

[Barney Google]

This will all get sorted out on Friday when Canada's PM arrives to have a look-see-around.

[Frisk]

14 day forecast for Fort McMurray. Looks like it's going to get warm again.

[Poindexter]

CBC radio was interviewing some of the firefighters on the radio the am. Was interesting to learn one of the reasons they managed to save much of the town was that they leveled some homes with an excavator to create a fire break. Sounded like hell on earth though, constant explosions and toxic smoke.

On thier downtime they were sent lists of addresses and the names of pets left behind. After texting home owners for permission they drove around and broke into thier homes to rescue some very hungry and thirsty loved ones. One pet named bubbles apparently was so adorable it rode around with them for a while. Imagine even though they were exhausted this task recharged thier batteries somewhat.

They needed it for sure because of some of these guys worked 51 hours straight, talk about a heroic effort by these people.

[Drip_Torch]

Was interesting to learn one of the reasons they managed to save much of the town was that they leveled some homes with an excavator to create a fire break.

[The Green Barbarian]

14 day forecast for Fort McMurray. Looks like it's going to get warm again.

All the hot air from the politicians showing up...

[Barney Google]

Yessum Barbarian, the hot winds have been a-blowin recently...Friday will bring more.
In all of the political bantering and pandering and chest beating and promising there are families and folks just wanting to know what's going to happen next and what in the name of all things grand and small are they going to do to get by.
They just want to go home.

[Frisk]

Could be, could be....but in all seriousness it's probably going to start moving again. It usually takes a few weeks and weather cooperation to contain a fire that large, not a few days and a light drizzle.

[Barney Google]

Could be, could be....but in all seriousness it's probably going to start moving again. It usually takes a few weeks and weather cooperation to contain a fire that large, not a few days and a light drizzle.

Very wise words Quailized...Fort Mc needs a week of soaking non stop heavy rain.

[Frisk]

By the way, here's the heat detection maps I've been posting for those who are interested. Select the satellite image you'd like to view, click on Alberta and then click the JPEG map.

http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/activef ... ent=canada

[rustled]

CBC radio was interviewing some of the firefighters on the radio the am. Was interesting to learn one of the reasons they managed to save much of the town was that they leveled some homes with an excavator to create a fire break. Sounded like hell on earth though, constant explosions and toxic smoke.

On thier downtime they were sent lists of addresses and the names of pets left behind. After texting home owners for permission they drove around and broke into thier homes to rescue some very hungry and thirsty loved ones. One pet named bubbles apparently was so adorable it rode around with them for a while. Imagine even though they were exhausted this task recharged thier batteries somewhat.

They needed it for sure because of some of these guys worked 51 hours straight, talk about a heroic effort by these people.

Thanks for posting about the pets, Poindexter. I was wondering what was being done, and how.

Heartbreaking as it is to see houses being leveled, I wonder if it's something of a blessing at the end of the day. Down at Alta Lakes in Washington State, there are some houses still standing even though several of those on either side burned. (I think the same happened in Kelowna in 2003.) I wondered, looking at them, if they're ever able to really get the smoke smell out of them. I've heard it's comparatively straightforward to have insurance cover the cost of a rebuild, but smoke damage is a long-term fight that's hard to win.

Terrible to lose your irreplaceable belongings, though.

[Frisk]

It continues to be active despite the cooler temperatures (only 11C in Fort Mac today). I grabbed this pic from the airport webcam, which shows the smoke plume south of the city.

[Frisk]

It appears to have grown a bit last night, particularly on the east flank along the athabasca river. However I don't think it's posing an imminent threat to any human structures again at this point. Most of those red dots are in quite remote areas.

[Frisk]

There's a new fire near Fox Creek, Alberta.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2702951/out-o ... fox-creek/

[Frisk]

The fire has absolutely exploded within the last hour. Strong winds and warm temperatures are causing the flare ups.

[Barney Google]

Growing wildfire forces evacuation of Fort McMurray oilsands camps...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3585037