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Wildfire evacuees glimpse burned out city on way south

Tens of thousands have been forced from their homes and the fires are expected to burn for weeks. (Jason Franson The Canadian

Thousands of displaced residents were getting a sobering drive-by view of some of the burned-out neighborhoods as convoys continued Saturday. As many as 8,000 people were airlifted to safety Thursday, 5,500 more were expected to be flown out Friday, and another 4,000 were expected to be airlifted Saturday.

The Alberta provincial government, which declared a state of emergency, said Friday that the size of the fire had grown to more than 101,000 hectares. No deaths or injuries have been reported since the fire started last Sunday.

More than 1,000 fire fighters and 150 helicopters, 295 pieces of heavy equipment and 27 aircraft tankers have been deployed, according to the Canadian government.

Another major wildfire has hit Canada's oil-rich province of Alberta, near Fort McMurray.

Officials say 200ft flames forced them to suspend the only land convoy leaving the area, and the fire is expected to double in size in the next 24 hours.

"We had only gone two or three klicks", he said, using a term for a kilometer, "and there was the fire right at the side of the road". "And even once we get rain, there's still going to be a lot of fire out there".

But he expected the fire to expand into a more remote forested area northeast, and away from Fort McMurray.

Canadian officials say they expect to fight the massive wildfire that has destroyed large parts of Alberta's oil sands town for months.

Work camps that usually house those pumping oil from nearby tar sands reserves have now emergency shelters. Angel Rowe of Leduc, Alberta, south of Edmonton, said he organized a convoy to head up to Fort McMurray on Friday evening to support people like Jones.

The vehicles began moving south on Hwy 63 at about 6 a.m. Friday in convoys of 50 cars bookended by RCMP cruisers while the Canadian military providing a helicopter escort from above. At another point, what seems to be the darkness of night - with cars slowed to a crawl, hazards blinking - is revealed to be the result of thick black smoke.

Police took up positions at intersections along the way to keep evacuees from detouring to try to salvage belongings from charred homes and make sure the route remains safe from the fire.

Local residents are opening their hearts - and wallets - for the tens of thousands forced to flee for their lives from the Fort McMurray wildfires.

Prior to the fire, Suncor said it was operating at reduced rates of approximately 300,000 bpd because of a turnaround. "I was anxious that people would panic ...that didn't happen". Crews have arrived to restore the utility grid in the city, she said.

Unseasonably high temperatures combined with dry conditions have transformed the forest in much of Alberta into a tinderbox.

The blaze is so massive that smoke is blanketing parts of the neighboring province of Saskatchewan where Environment Canada, the country's weather service, issued air quality statements for several areas.

- Statoil ASA said production at its Leismer oil sands project has been cut by 50 percent to 10,000 bpd to preserve supplies of diluent, which is added to viscous oil sands bitumen so it can flow through pipelines.

Notley said large numbers of evacuees could be housed for now in university dormitories in Edmonton or Calgary - students left them days ago when their spring term ended.

About half of the crude output from the sands, or one million barrels per day, had been taken offline as of Friday, according to a Reuters estimate. "Even so, as one of the world's biggest oil producers, Canada has been hit hard by the collapse in prices".

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Wildfire evacuees glimpse burned out city on way south