LAC LA BICHE, Alberta — Canadian officials hoped to complete the mass evacuation of work camps north of Alberta’s main oil sands city of Fort McMurray on Saturday, fearing a growing wildfire could double in size and reach a major oil sands mine and even the neighboring province of Saskatchewan.
Chad Morrison of Alberta Wildfire said the massive blaze in the province covered more than 385,000 acres and could be nearly 750,000 acres by the end of Saturday because of high temperatures, dry conditions and high winds. That size includes burned areas and those areas still in flames.
“The fire may double in size in the forested areas today. As well they may actually reach the Saskatchewan border. In no way is this fire under control,” Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said.
Thousands of displaced residents were getting a sobering drive-by view of some of the burned-out neighborhoods as convoys continued Saturday. The images were largely ones of devastation — scorched vehicles, charred homes and telephone poles, burned out from the bottom up. No deaths or injuries were reported.
Notley said about 12,000 evacuees have been airlifted from oil sands mine airfields in the past two days, and about 7,000 have been evacuated in police-escorted highway convoys. She said the goal was to complete the evacuation from northern work camps by late Saturday.
Notley’s comments came as officials said the fire could burn to the edges of the Suncor oil sands facility, about 15 miles north of Fort McMurray. Nonessential staff have been evacuating and efforts to protect the site were underway.
Oil sands mines are resilient to fires because they are cleared and have no vegetation, said Morrison. He said the sites also have very good industrial fire departments.
Morrison added the fire isn’t expected to reach the oil sands mines north of Suncor.
The fire and mass evacuation has forced as much as a quarter of Canada’s oil output offline and was expected to impact a Canadian economy already hurt by a dramatic fall in the price of oil.
Police said many parts of smoke-filled Fort McMurray are burned and visibility is low. Officers wore masks as they checked homes to make sure everyone was out.
More than 80,000 people have left Fort McMurray in the heart of Canada’ oil sands, where the fire has torched 1,600 homes and other buildings. Gas has been turned off, the power grid is damaged and water is not drinkable. Officials said there is no timeline to return residents to the city.
