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Smoke and flames from the wildfires erupt behind a car on the highway
near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 7, 2016.REUTERS/Mark Blinch
GREGOIRE LAKE, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian officials on Sunday
showed some optimism for the first time that they were beginning to get
on top of the country's biggest wildfire, as cooler weather and light rain
stopped the blaze from growing as much as feared and winds took the
flames away from oil sands boomtown Fort McMurray.
"It definitely is a positive point for us, for sure," said Alberta fire official
Chad Morrison in a news briefing, when asked if the fight to contain the
flames had a reached a turning point.
"We're obviously very happy that we've held the fire better than
expected," said Morrison. "This is great firefighting weather, we can
really get in here and get a handle on this fire, and really get a death grip
on it."
The wildfire scorching through Canada's oil sands region in northeast
Alberta had been expected to double in size on Sunday, threatening the
neighboring province of Saskatchewan, as it moved into its seventh day.
But favorable weather helped hold it back, giving officials hope that they
can soon begin assessing the damage to Fort McMurray, close to where
the fire started, causing its 88,000 inhabitants to flee.
"As more and more fire has burned out around the city and the fuel
around the city starts to disappear ... we are starting to move into that
second phase of securing the site and assessing the site," said Alberta
Premier Rachel Notley, during the same media briefing.
Officials said it was too early to put a timeline on getting people back into
the town safely.
Service vehicles drive out of the wildfires near Fort McMurray, Alberta,
Canada, May 7, 2016.REUTERS/Mark Blinch
The broader wildfire, moving southeast through wooded areas away from
the town, would still take a long time to "clean up," Morrison cautioned.
Officials had previously warned that the fire could burn for months.
An Alberta government statement issued on Saturday night said the fire
had consumed 200,000 hectares (500,000 acres) an area the size of
Mexico City and would continue to grow.
Fort McMurray is the center of Canada's oil sands region. About half of
the crude output from the sands, or one million barrels per day, had been
taken offline as of Friday, according to a Reuters estimate.
The inferno looks set to become the costliest natural disaster in Canada's
history. One analyst estimated insurance losses could exceed C$9 billion
($7 billion).
Officials said on Sunday the fire had done minor damage at CNOOC unit
Nexen's Long Lake facility, in the site's yard. It was the first reported
damage to an energy industry asset since the crisis began.
Morrison said the fire was southwest of a Suncor Energy Inc facility,
which Suncor identified as its base oil sands mining site north of Fort
McMurray, and also near an unidentified Syncrude facility.
Air tankers, helicopters and bulldozers had kept the fire from reaching
those sites, said Morrison: Well see how the day goes, but with the
cooler weather, I do expect to hold the fire there."
Smoke and flames from the wildfires erupt behind a car on the highway
near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 7, 2016.REUTERS/Mark Blinch