Fort McMurray obliterated

[Dizzy1]

Edmonton Journal is reporting 1 camp facility has been destroyed.

Blacksands - fluffy posted a pic above.

[fluffy]

Fire at the edge of Noralta property. Tweets from around 2:30 MT are saying the fire guard is holding.

[pepsilover]

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/alberta-f ... spartanntp

<snip> The Fort McMurray wildfire in northern Alberta is carving a new path of destruction, destroying an oilsands camp while racing eastward toward more industry sites.


The fire, which has become known as "the beast," grew by a staggering 57,000 hectares in the last 24 hours, consuming 423,000 hectares of boreal forest as of Wednesday morning.

Wildfire information officer Travis Fairweather attributes the "pretty significant" growth to "extreme fire conditions."

"It's really being burning intensely and the winds have been carrying it," he said Wednesday.
<snip>

more at link

[Dizzy1]

Growing at 50 000 hectares a day, threatening and destroying more structures everyday, but no "we got this, we don't need any help". Sorry, but I think we've gotten to the point where they need to re-address their tactics.

[pepsilover]

Growing at 50 000 hectares a day, threatening and destroying more structures everyday, but no "we got this, we don't need any help". Sorry, but I think we've gotten to the point where they need to re-address their tactics.

Russia's help is going to start looking better and better to Ottawa anytime soon..........

[Frisk]

It has grown to 483,000 hectares. They're calling for rain and cooler temperatures today.

[The Green Barbarian]

Russia's help is going to start looking better and better to Ottawa anytime soon..........

I flew into Vladivostok once and as we were on our descent I saw many forest fires burning away in the forests surrounding the town. When I landed I asked a Russian if they were putting any resources on getting the fires out and he just said "what fires?" I guess in Russia they don't even think about forest fires unless they get near a human settlement, and then probably still don't care.

[trapp]

I see the hazard has dropped to low with rain and snow. Typically when this happens you see fire crews reduced and slack off only to have it come back and bite them in the *bleep* about 10 days later. For this fire in Alberta they are increasing crews by 1000 fire fighters, good on them. A very good fire control objective and strategy.

[oneh2obabe]

Rain and cooler temperatures have allowed firefighters to better assess the size of the Fort McMurray wildfire, and it’s bigger than previous estimates suggested.

The latest estimates peg the wildfire at 522,894 hectares on the Alberta side, and 2,496 hectares across the border into Saskatchewan, Laura Stewart, an Alberta wildfire information officer, confirmed Sunday afternoon.

While the fire was reported to be 504,443 hectares yesterday, Stewart said it hasn’t grown, rather the weather helped to clear smoke in the area allowing firefighters to better assess the size.

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n ... ly-thought

[Queen K]

I heard on CBC The Current that hundreds of homes had to be bulldoozed to create a fire break which saved thousands of homes.

What a decision to have to implement and quickly! Homes exploding in thirty seconds....hell on Earth.

Any news from someone who's been there?

[Dizzy1]

I heard on CBC The Current that hundreds of homes had to be bulldoozed to create a fire break which saved thousands of homes.

What a decision to have to implement and quickly! Homes exploding in thirty seconds....hell on Earth.

Any news from someone who's been there?

From the meetings I've had the last couple of days, the city itself is pretty much safe from anymore surrounding fires. Everything around the city has been pretty much burned out and the fuel to catch fire is low. There are still some hot spots in the area, but they should be under control soon. The major part of the fire is heading east and has crossed the Saskatchewan border. Depending on the wind direction (which has been changing from north to south to south to north frequently since I've been back) it'll head a bit north or south as well.

As far as bulldozing houses goes, I haven't heard that myself yet so I can't comment on that. But some of the camps north of the City are building extra big fire breaks by removing trees close to the camps to better protect them next time.

We have been reviewing the evacuation itself, first of the city itself, then the evacuated families from the camps, then the workers and it is truly amazing how smoothly it went and it really couldn't have been done that quickly and safely without the help of everyone involved, and that is a very long list - from the oil companies, airlines, bussing companies, food suppliers and Canadians across the country. Absolutely remarkable.

[Frisk]

Rain is on the way.

[Dizzy1]

Air Canada is bringing up a B777 full of firefighters from South Africa to help out.

[Always Sunny]

I heard on CBC The Current that hundreds of homes had to be bulldoozed to create a fire break which saved thousands of homes.

What a decision to have to implement and quickly! Homes exploding in thirty seconds....hell on Earth.

Any news from someone who's been there?

I've seen pics. It's got to be bittersweet knowing that your home made it through the fire itself, but was lost to the creation of a firebreak. For the greater good of course, but tough to swallow.

[Bunnyhop]

I wonder what the insurance companies are going to say about covering homes that were destroyed to create a fire break. I understand why they did it, but will the insurance companies still cover the loss?