OTTAWA: Wildfires continued their devastating advance on Tuesday, leading authorities to order more evacuations in Canada’s oil sands region surrounding the city of Fort McMurray.
In total, about 8,000 people were forced to leave some 20 camps and facilities north of the city in Alberta province due to thick smoke and flareups. The evacuation order was issued late on Monday for the area connected by a 50 kilometre stretch of highway between Fort McMurray and the town of Fort MacKay, in the heart of the oil sands.
“The evacuation zone has increased north of the city of Fort McMurray due to evolving fire conditions,” the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo said. “Several camps are affected by this evacuation. Approximately 8,000 people impacted,” the statement read.
Some 100,000 residents and oil workers had already been evacuated from Fort McMurray and its surroundings two weeks ago.
