Fort McMurray wildfire destroys work camp, encroaches on oil and gas facilities
' The wildfire that razed thousands of buildings in Fort McMurray two weeks ago showed how unrelenting and unpredictable it is as it encroached on oil and gas facilities to the north, destroying one work camp and again forcing production to shut down. There was also further destruction in the city itself with an explosion in a house in the Dickinsfield area Monday night, damaging seven homes. A fire in a fourplex in south Thickwood damaged three condominium units. The causes were unknown. Both were under investigation. “It highlights again the uncertainty of the challenges with re-entry planning and re-establishing essential services,” said Scott Long, executive director of Alberta Emergency Management Agency.
- As it moves east, the fire will hit the highway and the Athabasca River first, which could prevent it from reaching the west side of Suncor. The wildfire did encroach on the forest surrounding the southeast corner of the Suncor facility, but company spokeswoman Sneh Seetal said none of its assets have been damaged. Seetal said “enhanced fire mitigation” strategies, including fire breaks, water sprinklers and pumps, are in place, and industrial firefighters remain on-site as essential staff.
- Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson said 400 people were bused Monday night to Edmonton due to a lack of camp accommodations and worsening fire conditions. About 100 essential staff, including industrial firefighters, remain at the Mildred Lake plant and Aurora mine. Syncrude has the capacity to produce 350,000 barrels of oil per day, but workers were in the process of assessing plant equipment and had not started up, he said.
- Alberta government wildfire manager Chad Morrison said because of the lack of vegetation on and around oilsands sites, they’re “very resilient” to wildfire. “The issues for us are the industrial camps, the Northland (Forest Products sawmill) facility,” he said. “We feel fairly confident that the (oilsands) sites themselves will be OK.”
- Firefighters continue to protect and pay attention to how the fire moves in relation to the Thickwood, Timberlea and Parsons Creek neighbourhoods in Fort McMurray. The burnt-out areas around those communities and bulldozer guards should act as a buffer zone, Morrison said. “We are very optimistic that we’ll continue to hold there.”
There are 1,754 firefighters, 208 helicopters, 412 pieces of heavy equipment and 29 air tankers currently battling 17 wildfires across the province. '
Jim
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