Wildfire evacuees get glimpse of burned-out city on way south

Associated Presss

EDMONTON, Alberta

Displaced residents at oil field camps north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, got a sobering drive-by view of their burned-out city Friday in a convoy that moved evacuees south amid a massive wildfire that officials fear could double in size by the end of today.

As police and military oversaw the procession of hundreds of vehicles, a mass airlift of evacuees also resumed. A day after 8,000 people were flown out, authorities said 5,500 more were expected to be evacuated by the end of Friday and an additional 4,000 today.

More than 80,000 people have left Fort McMurray in the heart of Canada’s oil sands, where the fire has torched 1,600 homes and other buildings. The mass evacuation forced as much as a quarter of Canada’s oil output offline, according to estimates, and is expected to impact a country already hurt by a dramatic fall in the price of oil.

About 1,200 vehicles had passed through Fort McMurray by late Friday afternoon despite a one-hour interruption due to heavy smoke, authorities said.

Jim Dunstan was in the convoy with his wife, Tracy, and two young sons. “It was shocking to see the damaged cars all burned on the side of the road. It made you feel lucky to get out of there,” he said.

In Edmonton, between 4,500 and 5,000 evacuees arrived at the airport on at least 45 flights Friday, airport spokesman Chris Chodan said. In total, more than 300 flights have arrived with evacuees since Tuesday, he said.

The Alberta provincial government, which declared a state of emergency, said Friday the size of the blaze had grown to more than 249,571 acres. No deaths or injuries were reported.