Canadian Wildfire Could ‘Burn For Months,’ Officials Warn [Video]

If current weather conditions in Alberta, Canada, don’t change soon, officials warn that the Canadian wildfire could possibly burn for months, as reported by USA Today. Officials also fear that the wildfire that is consuming nearly 400,000 acres in Alberta could move to the Saskatchewan province as reported in the above video. As of right now, the massive wildfire has destroyed more than 1,600 structures, which the article says is about one-third the size of the state of Rhode Island. Two deaths have also been attributed to the Canadian wildfire. Rachel Notley, the Alberta premier, said the deaths were both due to traffic accidents during the massive evacuation last week.

The wildfire started virtually overnight last week on May 3 in Fort McMurray and quickly began raging and growing as Canadian officials and first responders began evacuating a population of 80,000 residents from the city. Estimates of 44,000 were supposed to have fled the city late Tuesday, and traffic was a nightmare as seen in numerous news reports that showed scenes of the city literally burning in what looked like something out of an apocalyptic movie. The reason for the hasty evacuation was a fear that hot, dry winds that were forecast for Wednesday would only fan the flames and escalate the wildfire.

Fortunately, favorable winds caused the fire to burn away from Fort McMurray today. The fire also did not spread as much today as previously feared; however, the fire is only about 20 to 30 miles away from the Saskatchewan province. Officials said today that a “days-long rain” could completely put out the fire, but unfortunately, there is no forecast of rain at the moment. If no rain comes, then Canadian officials say the wildfire will most likely burn in forested areas for months. Right now, the wildfire is so massive that smoke is blanketing parts of Saskatchewan and Environment Canada has issued air-quality statements for several areas. Smoke was also reported all the way to Iowa in the U.S.

The governor of Alberta said there are more than 500 firefighters that are trying to contain and stop the blazing wildfire, as well as 15 helicopters, 14 air tankers, and 88 other pieces of equipment that are being used in the battle. AccuWeather Canadian Weather expert Brett Anderson said that weather conditions should become favorable to the firefighters’ efforts.

“Much cooler conditions will return to the region,” Anderson said, “which will also result in an increase in relative humidity.”

Hopefully, the weather conditions will change so that firefighters can better battle the wildfire. Notley said that “in no way is this fire under control,” according to an article by Aljazeera.

Fort McMurray wildfire – by the numbers https://t.co/qA56kndNdD pic.twitter.com/dlmNU1CdXu

— CBC News (@CBCNews) May 8, 2016

As for the scenario that the wildfire might possibly burn for months, Chad Morrison, Alberta’s manager of wildfire prevention, said that it wasn’t uncommon to fight “such an inferno in forested areas for months.” Officials do fear that the wildfire could double in size and reach a major oil sands mine as well as the province of Saskatchewan. The oil sands mines are part of the Suncor oil sands facility and is about 25 km north of Fort McMurray. The low humidity, high temperatures, and gusty winds have helped fan the wildfire flames in forests and brush that has been dried out from two months of drought, according to Aljazeera. Fort McMurray is surrounded by forests in the center of the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. If the wildfire reaches the oil mines, then it could truly be even more catastrophic. Last year, wildfires also led to the evacuation of hundreds of workers from the same area.

[Photo Via Youtube]