Wildfire Threatens Alberta Oil Patch, Evacuations Ordered

Officials in the Canadian province of Alberta have mandated the evacuation of neighborhoods in Fort McMurray as a wildfire approaches the heart of Canada's tar sands region. 

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo issued evacuation orders on Tuesday afternoon for residents of the Abasand, Beacon Hill, Prairie Creek, and Grayling Terrace areas, providing them with approximately two hours to vacate their homes due to the advancing wildfire.

The municipality stated that these neighborhoods, situated in close proximity to the potential fire spread, would be easier for Regional Emergency Services to protect from wildfires if they were unoccupied and cleared.

Fort McMurray, positioned approximately 430km (270 miles) northeast of Edmonton, has previously faced severe wildfires. In 2016, tens of thousands were compelled to evacuate as a massive blaze ravaged homes, businesses, and other structures in the town.

Canada saw its most intense fire season on record in 2023, as hundreds of wildfires burned in provinces and territories across the country.

The huge blazes forced thousands from their homes, destroyed entire communities and sent enormous plumes of smoke into the United States as well as Europe.

Experts say the climate crisis is largely responsible for the record-setting conflagrations. Higher temperatures have extended the Canadian wildfire season, which typically runs from the end of April until September or October.

It has also increased lightning, which is generally the cause of about half of all the blazes in the country.

Over the past few days, a few thousand people in Canada’s westernmost province of British Columbia were also evacuated from their homes after a huge wildfire broke out near the small town of Fort Nelson, in the province’s northeastern corner.

Rob Fraser, the mayor of Northern Rockies Regional Municipality, which includes Fort Nelson noted “very calm” and an overcast sky should help crews respond.

“As long as the wind doesn’t come up from the west, it won’t blow any closer to the town,” Fraser said.

Last week, the Canadian government said that meteorologists with Environment and Climate Change Canada had predicted “weather conditions for spring and summer 2024 that could lead to greater wildfire risks”.

“As we can expect with climate change, most parts of Canada have experienced warmer and drier spring conditions so far, with the added influence this year of El Nino,” the government said in a statement.

“Drought conditions are expected to persist in high-risk regions in May, including the southern regions of the prairie and western provinces.”