Sunday, 8 May 2016

Pics: Massive Alberta wildfire leaves more than 100,000 homeless


A huge wildfire ravaging the Canadian province of Alberta has grown more slowly than feared, officials ay.  Officials have however warned that wildfires could rage for months. More than 100,000 residents of Fort McMurray have fled the blaze. David Yurdiga, the member of Parliament for the area, toured Fort McMurray on Sunday and said he was optimistic.
'We'll be back on our feet a lot quicker than I thought we would be,' he said.
'All of the key infrastructure is in place. Our hospital is standing. Our schools are standing. Our treatment plant is functioning.'




No deaths or injuries have been reported since the fire started last Sunday. The fire and mass evacuation has forced a quarter or more of Canada's oil output offline and was expected to impact an economy already hurt by the fall in the price of oil. The Alberta oil sands have the third-largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Its workers largely live in Fort McMurray where some neighborhoods have been destroyed.




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