Fort McMurray residents continued to enter the city Friday.
Residents of Zone 3 and 4 were allowed to return home, including the neighbourhoods of Thickwood, Wood Buffalo, Gregoire, Prairie Creek and Saprae Creek Estates
Officials said around 24,000 people returned to Fort McMurray in the first two days of re-entry.
“Despite the dramatic differences that our citizens will experience, home is not the structure you live in,” said Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Mayor Melissa Blake. “Home is what the community is, and this community is phenomenal.”
Visits to destroyed homes—outside of the restricted Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways area— will begin June 5. An NGO group known as Team Rubicon will accompany residents to the site. Residents can then instruct Rubicon on where to sift through debris to recover items.
Residents of the restricted areas were not allowed to return home due to toxins found in samples from the area. Currently, there is no date set for general re-entry to homes in restricted areas. However, visits to those homes are scheduled to begin June 8.
Residents are not permitted to visit destroyed homes on their own. Those wishing to visit a destroyed home must make an appointment through the Pulse Line at (780) 743-7000.
The wildfire continues to burn, covering about 580,000 hectares.
