A wildfire that raged out of control destroyed much of one neighborhood in the remote western Canadian city of Fort McMurray and badly damaged others, the local government said on Wednesday, with all 80,000 residents ordered to leave in the biggest evacuation in the area’s history.
A massive forest fire in Alberta is bearing down on Canada’s Oilsands capital https://t.co/6FwLvjSCZj #ymmfire pic.twitter.com/VloZ45EwPY
— BuzzFeed Canada (@BuzzFeedCanada) May 3, 2016
Firefighters in the city, located in the northeastern part of the province of Alberta in the heart of Canada’s oil sands, braced for another tough day. Hot, dry weather has made it difficult to bring the fire under control.
From #UttarakhandForestFire to #CanadaFire, the world is seeing a flurry of forest fires https://t.co/42sZM1kXDE pic.twitter.com/Tz1PpKKDK4
— India Today (@IndiaToday) May 4, 2016
By early on Wednesday morning, Shell had closed one oil sands mine and was in the process of closing another. Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said the company’s priority was safety and to support the community. Henry said upgraders, which process oil sands to produce crude, would operate for a few more days.
Incredible! @jstuffcocrimlaw flees #FortMcMurray as flames cross the road – all caught on camera. #canadafire pic.twitter.com/G4VvgtvYC2
— Jon Williams (@WilliamsJon) May 4, 2016
Time lapse from my office pic.twitter.com/RWFx0pE7Yp
— Ryan Jeffries (@RyanJeffriesWFG) May 3, 2016
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