Fort McMurray wildfire nearly doubles in size

UPDATE (3:20pm): More evacuations have been ordered. An update can be found here.

UPDATE (2:30pm): More mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for residents in Fort McMurray as the fire situation has worsened.

Residents of Abasand, Grayling Terrace and Beacon Hill have been evacuated and are being directed to proceed to MacDonald Island Park where the reception has been set up. More voluntary evacuations have been issued for other residents and they are being told to prepare for a mandatory evacuation order within 30 minutes.

Transit services have been halted in some areas and there are reports that some houses are burning. People on social media have shared photos of the Centennial trailer park and it appears to have been destroyed by fire, but these reports have not yet been confirmed by officials. An update is expected from officials regarding the situation. We will update readers once more information is released.

Original Story:

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has updated the public about the fire situation threatening Fort McMurray.

The fire has grown since Monday from 1,285 ha in size to more than 2,000 ha, the fire was just 120 ha in size when it was first discovered on Sunday.

An incident management team has been assigned to the fire and approximately 80 fire fighters are currently battling the blaze, including 70 on the east side of the fire, which is closest to the city. The fire has jumped the Athabasca River and this spot fire it is currently five ha in size. This blaze is extremely close to the city and is a focus for firefighters.

There is bad news for fire fighters on Tuesday as temperatures are expected to reach a high of 30 C and winds will be a problem throughout the day. Several aircrafts have been called in to help hit the fire that is across the Athabasca River.

Fire Chief Darby Allen says the fire north of Fort McMurray is basically out and firefighters are conducting spot work in this area. This fire made it 15 km away from the city.

“The fire conditions are extreme, the humidity levels are going to be decreased quicker, which means the fire will grow more ferociously than in previous days,” said Allen. “The fire will be able to get into areas where we won’t be able to stop it.”

Alberta Wildfire is saying that if the winds continue on Tuesday, the fire could be much worse than it was on Monday. Crews are expecting another rough day in the field. More resources are being called in to help fight the fires including eight helicopters and one Sikorsky aircraft which has a larger bucket than the other aircrafts.

“In general, people wherever they are living in this wonderful town, should bear in mind that we’re in a serious situation,” said Allen when responding to a question about further evacuations. “They should have their families and children ready for an emergency.”

Fire officials have not released any further information about the investigation about how the fire started. Allen did confirm that no fire fighters or residents have been injured as a result of the fire.

Several mandatory evacuation orders and shelter-in-place orders have been issued to residents in the Gregoire and Prairie Creek area and the Centennial Trailer Park.

The Municipality will update the media and public once again Tuesday evening on the progress of the fire fighting situation.