With the wildfire in Alberta’s north still raging, cooler temperatures and a short rainfall provided much needed relief to crews on Sunday.
“With some help from mother nature and a bit of a break in the weather […] we were able to hold most of the line in Fort McMurray,” said Chad Morrison with Alberta Wildfire.
Officials confirmed the blaze did not double in size as expected and has yet to reach Saskatchewan, offering one of the first signs of good news from the fire-scorched region since the blaze was discovered on May 1.
As of 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the inferno was estimated to cover 161,000 hectares, an area about double the size of New York City – that’s five hectares larger than it was on Saturday, but about 140 hectares smaller than officials feared it would grow.
Morrison said crews continue to secure the Anzac area, as well as protect Gregoire Lake Estates and the Fort McMurray First Nation.
“We continue to hold the fire away from Suncor operations as well as the Northland lumber yard […] we can also report the fire blew over the Nexen Long Lake site with only minor damage,” he explained.
According to Morrison, “the fire is expected to hold or move away from these sites in the coming days” as below seasonal temperatures are anticipated.
“We’re hoping to have a great opportunity for firefighters to get on the ground and continue to put out hot spots in the interior [of Fort McMurray],” Morrison explained. “Long-term, in the forested areas, we expect to be out there for months.”
The flames continued to burn eastwards Sunday and were about 20 to 40 kilometres from Saskatchewan’s border by the afternoon, Notley told reporters during a news conference.
The premier expressed cautious optimism, crediting firefighters and first responders for their tireless work.
“The fire is quite a bit smaller than we had feared,” Notley said. “What an amazing job you’ve done.”
She added that all 25,000 people who fled to oil camps north of Fort McMurray earlier in the week have been safely transported south in highway convoys and by air.
About 3,000 people were evacuated from nearby Fort MacKay as a precaution, and 1,500 Syncrude employees were also moved on Saturday.
The premier choked back tears as she expressed sadness over evacuees unable to celebrate Mother’s Day at home.
"I'm hoping for a few minutes with my own children. That not all of us can do that is definitely an awful tragedy."
The premier plans to travel to Fort McMurray on Monday and will allow a small group of journalists inside the city for the first time since the blaze broke out.
Notley said the city is mostly cleared of active fires but firefighters remain on the scene in case of unexpected flare-ups.
The premier said she’ll meet with energy industry leaders soon and will provide an update Tuesday on the wildfire’s impact on the oil sector. At least six surface mines have been closed in the region, cutting an estimated 1 million barrels of oil out of daily production.
Notley also noted that Fort McMurray is now being used by first-responders as a base camp to fight the blaze as it tears through dry boreal forest in the northeast.
More than 500 firefighters continue to battle the blaze in and around Fort McMurray, along with 200 helicopters, 27 air tankers and 88 other pieces of equipment.
In addition, more firefighters were expected in the coming days from Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick to help relieve crews currently on the ground.
According to provincial officials, fire conditions across the province remain extreme. A total of 34 wildfires are burning across Alberta – three are considered out of control.
Alberta Wildfire confirmed a fire in a northern remote area of Slave Lake area is currently about 2,000 hectares in size, with another wildfire of “significant concern” burning near the B.C. border in Clear Hills.
Growing support for evacuees
Premier Rachel Notley urged all people displaced by the disaster to register with the Canadian Red Cross by phone at 1-888-350-6070 or online – to date about 36,000 households have done so.
According to the Red Cross, about $54 million has been donated to help those affected by the fire. The federal government and the Alberta government have both committed to match the donations.
Many are also offering essentials such as food, water and gas to the evacuees. Most communities along the province’s highways are even offering to house some evacuees.
Local businesses, celebrities, sports teams and large corporations have also contributed hundreds of thousands to relief efforts.
The Alberta government also has plans to help evacuees with other needs, such as medical prescriptions and schooling for children.
Feds to absorb cost according to agreement
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the exact cost of the damage caused by the fire has not yet been determined, but said it “will be calculated in the billions.”
Severe flooding in Calgary and other parts of southern Alberta in 2013 ended up costing about $6 billion. The minister said the combined cost of the emergency response, the property damage and the slowdown in Canada’s oil industry due to the wildfire will “far exceed” that of the Alberta floods.
Goodale said the federal government will cover the cost of the fire based on the Disaster Financial Assistance Arrangement (DFAA).
The federal-provincial cost-sharing agreement requires Ottawa to cover a percentage of the damage based on the per capita cost on those affected by the disaster. Given the severity of the Fort McMurray fires, Goodale said the federal government will likely absorb 90 per cent of expenses.
With files from CTV’s Jill Macyshon, Graham Slaughter and Dario Balca as well as The Canadian Press
