48 hours after declaring a state of emergency, Alberta is set to formally request federal assistance on Monday, May 8. Faced with "unprecedented" fires, thousands of people had to be evacuated and oil installations were shut down.
As of Monday morning, more than 100 forest and brush fires were still active in the province, 28 of which were considered "out of control" by authorities. Firefighters focus on those that threaten homes. Around the main city of Edmonton, many roads were blocked. Several oil companies - Vermilion Energy and Crescent Point Energy, etc - said on Monday they had to cut production in places due to the fires.
“Alberta has requested federal assistance to deal with the devastating fires. Prime Minister Trudeau assured me that Canada would be there to support us in any way possible," said Premier Danielle Smith, who spoke of the "unprecedented" fires on Saturday.
The province has opened several shelters for the evacuees but many of them fled with their camper vans or caravans and regrouped on vacant lots. Some are staying with friends or family, like Jerry Greiner, a resident of Drayton Valley, 150 km west of Edmonton. "On Friday, we could see the smoke and there was quite a strong wind," he told Agence France-Presse with tears in his eyes. “In the evening, we received the first alert around 10 p.m. and then the final evacuation notice around 11 p.m. We quickly took our bags to go to our friends', adds the 55-year-old gray-haired man, who is evacuated for the first time.
Around this small town of 7,000 inhabitants completely evacuated, the forest and the fields are blackened by the flames even if most of the houses have been preserved, noted an AFP journalist. Access to the city is still forbidden, caught in the smoke, the fire being brought under control but not completely extinguished.
Installed in a makeshift campsite, Dorothy Denis, another evacuee, is in shock. "It's scary and surreal," she repeats. "Whenever the alert is raised, we are on high alert. We want to watch but we're afraid they'll announce that our town is on fire."
In Fox Lake, northern Alberta, a massive fire engulfed 20 homes, a store and a police station. Residents were evacuated by boat and helicopter.
The Canadian province of Alberta, one of the world's largest oil producers, "had a hot, dry spring and with so much kindling, it only takes a few sparks to start some really scary fires," said explained this weekend the Premier of the province, Danielle Smith.
“In total, there are between 600 and 700 firefighters from Alberta on the ground right now, and several hundred firefighters from other provinces to help us,” detailed a spokeswoman for relief in the region.
In recent years, western Canada has been repeatedly hit by extreme weather events, the intensity and frequency of which are increased by global warming, including a "historic" heat dome, which has claimed hundreds of lives and was followed by major fires. The authorities hope that the arrival of cooler temperatures and a little rain since Sunday, at least in the south of the province, will help contain the situation. However, conditions remain unstable and it is difficult to accurately determine the extent of the damage.
Two wildfires are also out of control in British Columbia and authorities have warned that strong winds are expected in the coming days.
In May 2016 in Alberta, Fort McMurray, known to be the largest industrial oil sands complex in the world, was marked by a gigantic fire, which remains the costliest disaster in Canadian history.
