Massive wildfire in Fort McMurray destroys buildings Largest Evacuation.

Lac Ste Anne County fire has expanded. All residents north of Alexis and Glenevis are evacuating to Cherhill.

I've read that the smoke is even triggering its own lighting now

Still very dire up there.
For the commenters who felt the need to smugly diss the Tar Sands while this community is facing this unprecedented disaster. Let me remind you, oil prices have tanked and economically this area was already in a world of hurt. Workers had been laid off, families were in bankruptcy,
Food banks could barely keep up. Now that homes have been destroyed ( they were overvalued due to the oil-boom) these people will get pennies on the dollar and still be on the hook for the higher mortgage prices. There is NOTHING to celebrate in all this. NOTHING.

APTN National News
Fire crews in Alberta are engaging a “multi-headed monster” wildfire that has so far consumed 10,000 hectares and forced the evacuation of 88,000 people from Fort McMurray and destroyed over 1,000 structures in the city, the premier and officials said Wednesday.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the wildfire destroyed 1,600 structures in the city which was evacuated Tuesday amid apocalyptic scenes of highways lined with vehicles fleeing their homes against a flaming backdrop.

Darby Allen, director of emergency management for the Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality, said fire crews were facing another “bad day” following Tuesday’s sudden shift in the wildfire that penetrated Fort McMurray, destroying a whole swaths of neighbourhoods.

“No one is hurt and no one is passed away right now,” said an emotional Allen, in a teleconference with reporters Wednesday. “I really hope we can get to the end of this and still say that. We are here, we are strong and we’ll keep doing our jobs.”

Allen said fire crews worked throughout out the night fighting flames within the city which were finally vanquished by about 5 a.m.

“This is a nasty, dirty fire. There are certainly areas within the city that have not been burned, but this fire will look for them, find them and will want to take them,” said Allen.

aptn.ca...

Chief Allan Adam says that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is organizing a plane to gather displaced members and fly them back to Fort Chipewyan, but that displaced members need to contact their band office with their location. (CBC)

"If they want to come back for Fort Chip, we're trying to get a plane arranged. But we need to get organized."

Adam said that the First Nation has clearance to land at a Shell airstrip north of Fort McMurray, where a plane will pick up residents and bring them back to Fort Chipewyan. However, he added that the First Nation was having difficulty reaching all its members.

"We've got people all over the place, we can't get ahold of everybody," he said. "People are everywhere. People are displaced everywhere.

"I've got people down in Lac La Biche, Edmonton. My wife is stranded in Albian Sands. We have boats that launched on the lake this morning [to try and ferry people home by water], some of them are still stranded on the lake, on the ice right now. Some have went through.

"We're doing what we can, but everybody's in disarray right now, because nobody could understand the magnitude of how important this is."

www.cbc.ca...

CTV-Edmonton has posted their video's of the area and current events. Just scroll down a little.

www.facebook.com...

or go here
edmonton.ctvnews.ca...

Why was the State of Emergency called so late? Would it have made no difference to the devastation that is still on going?

My son is up there in a camp that is accepting evacuees . They even put up structures for pets and maybe livestock. The camp is sending workers home but he has to stay for essential services so I will sit here and worry and hope everyone stays safe.

originally posted by: fernalley
Why was the State of Emergency called so late? Would it have made no difference to the devastation that is still on going?

There's been a commitment by the Feds for help. The S of E is a more formal process that kicks in specific protocols when needed. You can't call every disaster a S of E, but when you do, it allows the funds to flow very quickly without a lot of red tape.

While there are various fund raisers popping up, they really need boots on the ground. The Facebook group Fort McMurray Evac relocation help group has put out a call for anyone with a driver's license and Wildlife Firefighting training and the will to do it to please call 1-780-585-0055 ASAP. I'd go myself but am in the middle of some large events right now that can't be put off.

a reply to: ThickAsABrick

I have no training but I'd be glad to help if i wouldn't be losing my job and the current place I'm renting.

it doesn't pay to help your fellow people and no one will have my back if I do.

a reply to: threeeyesopen

UPDATE:

"Municipality announces mandatory evacuations for Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation.

Highway 63 is also closed according to the CBC

Here is another escape from Fort McMurray



At 1:26 (vid below) a deer crosses the road

At 1:36 (vid below) you can see more deer flee the area

originally posted by: Soloprotocol
Just an observation. Whilst everyone is fleeing for there lives, What sort of a employer still has there employees man the Gas stations.

They can't force them to. It's likely anyone still there is doing that through their own volition to help people escape the fire. There were reports of people not having enough fuel to drive to safety, if I were there and in that job I would probably stay as long as I could to make sure others could get out too.

a reply to: Dumbass

You know what amazes me about these videos? Everyone seems to be so calm and polite, but that's probably not the right thing to do. If you have two lanes and you're all lined up in one lane while no one is using the other, you're just blocking a faster exit for no reason. They should have cut off all traffic coming into the affected area and opened up both lanes to EXIT only (with the exception of emergency vehicles).

There is no reason for anyone else to be going into these affected areas, they have every opportunity to open up both lanes to exit only.

I tell you this much, if I was driving out through this I wouldn't be giving a damn about staying in the rh lane, I would be taking the quickest route out of there.

a reply to: Rocker2013


That is exactly what my little kid said too on which I agree.

Even that dude on the motorcycle just waited in line until the fire was right next to him.

a reply to: Rocker2013

Regarding the orderly, calm evacuation of Fort Mac and communities south, it is probably a good system not to create a mad scramble out of the affected areas.

The crash between an SUV and a truck, which killed 2 people yesterday, was likely caused by just such a scenario. No-one benefits from panicking and would only make matters worse. I commend the people of Fort Mac for sticking to the plan. Last thing anyone needs is to see more accidents.

Don't you think the fact that so many are surviving this terrible situation safely is a testament to the 'Canadian Personality', where concern for others is primary?

originally posted by: Dumbass
a reply to: Rocker2013


That is exactly what my little kid said too on which I agree.

Even that dude on the motorcycle just waited in line until the fire was right next to him.

Yeah, I get that Canadians are probably the second politest people in the world (after Japan of course lol) but this is going too far.

It kind of shows how poorly managed this is though, doesn't it? I mean, they should have traffic officers along that rout stopping anything but emergency vehicles from going in, and running cop cars with signs on the back saying "FOLLOW ME" from the other end along both lanes encouraging drivers to use every bit of roadway they have to speed people out harms way.

originally posted by: masqua
Regarding the orderly, calm evacuation of Fort Mac and communities south, it is probably a good system not to create a mad scramble out of the affected areas.

You can have both safety and haste.
The fact that people are not using both sides of the road to get everyone out in that orderly fashion is what gets me. There is no reason to have people lining up on one side of the road while you have another lane there that no one is using.

As I just added they should have blocked all incoming traffic to the area, then sent police vehicles through directing people to follow them along both lanes of that road.

There's no reason not to do that, this wouldn't be a panicked evacuation, it would be a sensible maximization of exit options.

originally posted by: masqua
Don't you think the fact that so many are surviving this terrible situation safely is a testament to the 'Canadian Personality', where concern for others is primary?

I actually think it's pretty remarkable that no one has been hurt in this, but I think that's in spite of the fact that they're not operating a full evacuation path anywhere near effectively.

The whole point of an evacuation is to get everyone out of an area as quickly and safely as possible, these videos do not show that, they show people using one lane of a road, traffic slowing periodically right next to a raging inferno, while another lane is completely unused.

I'm not blaming them for anything, I'm just saying that there are simple things they should have been doing that they either haven't been able to do or haven't figured out in the chaos.

Another example is the fact that the local radio was still playing music yesterday and the day before, when it should have been commandeered immediately as a broadcast system issuing minute-by-minute information on the quickest and safest rout out.

originally posted by: Caver78
Still very dire up there.
For the commenters who felt the need to smugly diss the Tar Sands while this community is facing this unprecedented disaster. Let me remind you, oil prices have tanked and economically this area was already in a world of hurt.

You beat me to it, but my thoughts too. A fire to destroy the oil production regionally and be cause to raise oil prices ?

It was difficult to find the information at first, and I did search many sites with nothing more than cursory stories, but nothing pertaining to the source or cause of the fire. I can give you this bit of info though.....
www.ctvnews.ca...

a reply to: Sparkymedic

The firefighter racket?

Are you serious?

originally posted by: Sparkymedic
a reply to: Caver78

Ironic...isn't it.

I'm far from one of those climate change "nuts"...but I'm also not oblivious to man made pollution.

they sure as hell have made quite the mess up there in the tar sands...call it karma?

As an Albertan, I'm offended by this. You clearly have absolutely no idea how CLEAN the "tar" sands are. Oh, and they aren't tar sands. It's oil sands. There is a difference. I suggest you leave this thread.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

Those evil energy companies opened up their work camps and kitchens to provide food and shelter to evacuees...
How dare they....right?
/s