Flames rise off Highway 63 on May 7, 2016 outside Fort McMurray, where raging forest fires have forced more than 88,000 from their homes. (AFP Photo)
Fort McMurray, Canada:
The wildfires around the Canadian city of Fort McMurray were moving "much, much more slowly" on Sunday, Alberta premier Rachel Notley said, as she also lowered the estimate of the area destroyed so far.
Officials earlier on Sunday had warned that the fires could reach neighboring Saskatchewan province but as the day wore on the advancing edge of the blaze had slowed and the fire is still 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the provincial border.
The earlier estimate that 2,000 square kilometers of forest had been destroyed was high, Notley said in a press conference, adding that the true figure was closer to 1,600.
Chad Morrison, senior wildfire manager for Alberta, said that "with a little help from mother nature and a bit of a break in the weather," along with the hard work of some 500 firefighters, most fire lines in Fort McMurray had been contained.
The threat to oil-sand mines north of the city had also diminished, at least for now, he said.
Morrison said fire lines had moved away from the work sites of Nexen and the Chinese group CNOOC after inflicting only minor damage.
Work sites of the Suncor petroleum group had also been spared.
Morrison said firefighters hoped that rains and cooler temperatures predicted for today and winds from the west, gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour (35 mph) should help keep the flames away from the petroleum work camps in coming days.
Notley thanked rescue personnel for their "miraculous" work in helping evacuate roughly 100,000 area inhabitants.
But she regretted the deaths of two people who died when their vehicle struck a truck while fleeing the blaze.
Officials earlier on Sunday had warned that the fires could reach neighboring Saskatchewan province but as the day wore on the advancing edge of the blaze had slowed and the fire is still 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the provincial border.
The earlier estimate that 2,000 square kilometers of forest had been destroyed was high, Notley said in a press conference, adding that the true figure was closer to 1,600.
Chad Morrison, senior wildfire manager for Alberta, said that "with a little help from mother nature and a bit of a break in the weather," along with the hard work of some 500 firefighters, most fire lines in Fort McMurray had been contained.
The threat to oil-sand mines north of the city had also diminished, at least for now, he said.
Morrison said fire lines had moved away from the work sites of Nexen and the Chinese group CNOOC after inflicting only minor damage.
Work sites of the Suncor petroleum group had also been spared.
Morrison said firefighters hoped that rains and cooler temperatures predicted for today and winds from the west, gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour (35 mph) should help keep the flames away from the petroleum work camps in coming days.
Notley thanked rescue personnel for their "miraculous" work in helping evacuate roughly 100,000 area inhabitants.
But she regretted the deaths of two people who died when their vehicle struck a truck while fleeing the blaze.
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