The massive wildfire that has destroyed the better part of Alberta, Canada, will continue to burn for months, say officials. The Alberta government said the inferno which had covered more than 2,000 sq km, would spread to more areas because of high temperatures, dry conditions and high winds. The province's manager of Wildfire Prevention, Chad Morrison said it was not uncommon to fight such an inferno in forested areas for months.
It is also feared that the growing fire may double in size and reach a big oil sands mine and even neighbouring province of Saskatchewan. Alberta's premier, Rachel Notley said, “In no way is this fire under control.” She said about 12,000 evacuees have been airlifted from oil sands mine air fields over the past two days, and about 7,000 have left in highway convoys escorted by the police. The goal, she said, was to complete the evacuation from northern work camps. Low humidity, high temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius and gusty winds in forests and brush dried out from two months of drought are helping fan the flames.
However, temperature is expected to cool with Environment Canada forecasting a 40 per cent chance of rains in the area. Al Jazeera meteorologist Everton Fox noticed an area of rain moving across Alberta and said some of that rain is forecast to reach Fort McMurray. “Unfortunately it will not be heavy or prolonged. In fact, we expect it to be light and rather patchy at times, and it is likely to fizzle out soon. It is, however, bringing cooler north or northwestern winds that will feed across the region, bringing the temperatures down,” he said.
The mass evacuation has forced as much as a quarter of Canada's oil output offline and is expected to impact a country already hurt by a dramatic fall in the price of oil. The Alberta provincial government has declared a state of emergency. Fort McMurray is surrounded by wilderness in the heart of Canada's oil sands - the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Last May, wildfires led to the evacuation of hundreds of workers from the region.
Most of the evacuees headed south by car on Alberta Highway 63, with many temporarily stranded on the roadside as they ran out of gasoline. Other residents who initially sought shelter in oil camps and settlements north of the city were stuck in overcrowded conditions. Helicopters hovered overhead watching for flames, and police set up emergency fuel stations along the highway to keep the line of cars moving. They headed toward south of Fort McMurray in towns including Lac La Biche, 180 miles (290 km) away, and Edmonton.
Many Indians affected
Canada has boasted a massive population of people of Indian-origin. Around 300 Gujarati families were also affected by the inferno. Resident Ajay Rana talked about his horrible experience saying, “The situation is horrible. With long lines of vehicles bumper-to-bumper, there is major traffic congestion. People are sleeping on the sides of the road.”
As many as 200 Keralite families are a part of the thousands of people (including a big chunk of the Sikh community) who have been stranded by a wildfire in and around Fort McMurray. Karan Menon, president of the Malayali association in Calgary confirmed saying, “There are about 200 Keralite families in Fort McMurray and all of them are safe. As the wildfire spread, we were instructed to take essential items and flee. We have absolutely no idea as to what happened to our homes and assets in the fire.”
Coming together in troubled times, an Indo-Canadian real estate tycoon decided to help those fleeing the flames. Navjeet Dhillon, founder and CEO of Mainstreet Equity Corp, tracked the disaster and resultant exodus and has offered 100 apartment units rent-free for three months. “They lost their jobs, lost their homes, they were lucky they still had their cars and they drove out. We tried to help them in this difficult time,” Dhillon said. “Our staff worked 24 hours to accommodate them.” The bulk of the units were occupied within hours of being offered.
Airlines have also complied to the need of the hours, bending the rules and helping countless people fly to safety, with their pets. West Jet and Canadian North have allowed displaced pets to fly in main cabins along with their owners. While animals travelling by air are normally contained in the plane's cargo hold, with passengers fleeing the scene, in many cases, nothing more than just the clothes on their back, the airlines opened up to the option of the pets flying with their people in coach.
The airlines' gesture has garnered well deserved praise with people sharing photos of pets in the plane, on the internet.
Sikh Community from Vancouver send donations
The Sikh community of Metro Vancouver has sent three semi-trucks full of donations collected from the community members, to Edmonton, extending a helping hand to the thousands of residents forced from their homes. The trucks will deliver the goods to all those displaced from the massive fire that has been claiming the region for the past week.
Donation drive coordinator Avtar Gill said the original goal of one truckload was quickly met, and within 48 hours, organizers had to find two more trucks to take all the donations north to Edmonton. “This has been a collective effort from the Sikh community. This effort is entirely being done based on their need,” Gill said. “I feel so proud of the community. Every person, from a small child, to old person is helping.” While aid organisations usually discourage the donation of goods, preferring direct monetary donations, the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society welcomed this effort. “The items are definitely needed and the community that gathered this for us is absolutely outstanding,” said the society's spokesperson Nicole Geoffrey.
However, the community is still not finished. They are planning to send in five more truckloads to northern Alberta. This time, they will focus on items like new clothing and shoes. “That's been our values, the core values. That's what our religion says,” said truck driver Harminder Dhaliwal. “It doesn't matter who it is, if anybody needs help from us, we should go out and lend a hand.”
