Cool temperatures and rainfall have significantly reduced the wildfire risk in Fort McMurray but that doesn’t mean the northeastern Alberta community is out of the woods when it comes to fire risk, officials said Friday.
About 10 millimetres of rain fell on the wildfire overnight and Environment Canada is forecasting another 10 millimetres of rain on Friday and Saturday night. The wildfire danger in Fort McMurray was being classified by Alberta Wildfire as low on Friday morning.
“Yesterday the weather was definitely in our favour and it looks like it’s going to continue that way for the next few days,” Sandy Bowman, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said during its morning wildfire update.
“I’m very hopeful that this leads to serious and sustained serious progress on this wildfire.”
About 6,600 residents of four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods — Prairie Creek, Beacon Hill, Abasand and Grayling Terrace — were evacuated on Tuesday afternoon.
They have been told not to expect to be allowed back to their homes before Tuesday, even though the wildfire hasn’t grown or moved significantly closer to the community, officials said Friday.
In addition to the 6,600 people who were ordered to evacuate, many other Fort McMurray residents voluntarily. Officials say those residents are welcome to return at any time.
Fire Chief Jody Butz said RCMP Special Tactical Operations visited every evacuated neighbourhood to document conditions of each home and found no damages.
“When you return home, your neighbourhoods will look the same,” he said.
Officials said the size of the out-of-control wildfire south of Fort McMurray has remained unchanged at 19,820 hectares.
It is located 5.5 kilometres from the Fort McMurray landfill, which is just outside the community’s south boundary, and 4.5 kilometres from the intersection of highways 63 and 881.
As of Thursday, 2,597 evacuees and 379 pets have registered at reception centres in Lac La Biche, Cold Lake and Edmonton, according to the municipality.
According to Josee St-Onge, an Alberta Wildfire information officer, firefighters will continue to work on a containment line on Friday, “depending on whether helicopters can fly,” she said.
There are 224 firefighters, 22 helicopters and 57 pieces of heavy equipment currently assigned to this wildfire, she said.
“As there is no road access to this wildfire, crews must be transported by helicopter to the fire line,” St-Onge said.