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Raging wildfire bears down on Canadian city as 88,000 flee

05 May 2016 04:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A massive wildfire that has forced the evacuation of all 88,000 residents of the western Canadian city of Fort McMurray and burned down 1,600 structures has the potential to destroy much of the town, authorities said on Wednesday, APA reports quoting Reuters.

Fort McMurray had been largely emptied of its residents by Wednesday afternoon, officials said, despite fuel shortages, snarled traffic and a highway closed by the flames in the northeastern part of the province of Alberta, the heart of Canada's oil sands region.

So far there are no reports of fatalities, but crews had been unable to stop the wildfire, which has charred 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) since it erupted on Sunday. Hot, dry winds forecast for later on Wednesday threatened to complicate matters.

"It is a possibility that we may lose a large portion of the town," said Scott Long, an official with Alberta's emergency management agency.

Major oil sands facilities were not in the fire's path, but some companies' operations were disrupted by efforts to help employees and evacuees.

Images from the neighborhood of Beacon Hill in the city's southeast showed rows of charred house foundations, their upper stories burned to the ground, and blankets of white ash within. Officials said 80 percent of houses in the neighborhood, nearly 600 in total, were destroyed.

The regional government said two other neighborhoods, Abasand and Waterways, had sustained "serious loss." Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said a total of about 1,600 structures have been destroyed in Fort McMurray."There are certainly areas within the city that have not been burned, but this fire will look for them and it will find them and it will want to take them. And our challenge today is to prevent," said Chief Darby Allen of the Fort McMurray fire department.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the military can deploy air force planes to the stricken city as needed. Fort McMurray International Airport said it was suspending all commercial flights in and out of the city on Wednesday.