Fort McMurray cut off as wildfire closes Highway 63
原始发布日期： 2016-05-04 发布者：李方字变大 字变小
With fire still out of control, province declares state of emergency and help pours into AlbertaEvacuees worry about their homes 2:11
TIMELINE: How the massive Fort McMurray fire spread 0:59 TIMELINE: How the massive Fort McMurray fire spread 0:59 
RAW: Fort McMurray destruction 1:20 RAW: Fort McMurray destruction 1:20 Three communities south of Fort McMurray have been ordered to leave their homes. RCMP are currently going door to door in Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation after a mandatory evacuation order was issued. Buses will be leaving the communities at midnight. Mandatory Evacuation Order - May 4, 9:50 p.m. pic.twitter.com/TPVwsx2sJH — RMWB (@RMWoodBuffalo) May 5, 2016 As the sun set behind clouds of thick smoke earlier on Wednesday evening, Fort McMurray was effectively cut off from the rest of Alberta as a massive wildfire burned on both sides of the critical highway that links the oilsands city with the rest of province. By day's end, the raging fire had destroyed more than 1,600 homes and buildings and forced even the emergency response team to move its headquarters to a new location, 30 kilometres to the south. About 250 firefighters, aided by 12 helicopters and 17 air tankers, fought flames on several fronts in and around the city. Smoke moves in on the Fort McMurray International Airport. Here's a look from 8:41 a.m. to 6:41 p.m. MT Wednesday. (Images from NAV Canada's webcam)  One battle took place near the northwest neighbourhood of Timberlea. Two others were fought on the south side, near the airport and Saline Creek. "Currently that fire, at Airport Road and Highway 63 ... has jumped both sides of the road, and traffic is no longer moving north or south," Dale Bendfeld, acting director of community and protective services, said in an update Wednesday evening. With 80,000 people evacuated and the fire still out of control, Alberta declared a province-wide state of emergency, a move that puts the battle to save the city, and subsequent recovery efforts, in the hands of the provincial government. 'Heroic efforts'As the day passed, the fire, pushed by gusting winds, moved steadily east.All commercial flights into Fort McMurray International Airport remained suspended. At one point early in the evening, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo reported that the CanWest Propane building, down the road from the airport, was on fire. Less than an hour later, just after 7 p.m., another update said the building had been saved thanks to "heroic efforts from fire crews." The emergency response centre was evacuated at midday from a fire station in that area to the community of Anzac, south of the city. The region reported some good news, saying on Twitter that "firefighting efforts to save the water treatment plant have been successful!" Tens of thousands have fled the cityIn all, about 10,000 people who fled the fire were being sheltered at oil company work camps north of the city. Some of those camps have run short of food, but provincial officials said a CJ-130 Hercules aircraft will be loaded with food and water and flown to those camps, some of which have their own runways, either Wednesday evening or on Thursday.Another 70,000 residents, the province said, headed south out of Fort McMurray before the highway was closed, where many ended up in evacuation centres in Anzac, Lac La Biche or in Edmonton, 430 kilometres away. Some drivers headed south ran out of gas and were stranded. On Wednesday, a fuel tanker truck was dispatched along the highway to fill empty gas tanks. For fire Chief Darby Allen, it was another trying and emotional day. 
Fort McMurray residents rest at a community centre in Anzac, Alta., after residents were ordered to be evacuated due to a raging wildfire. (Topher Seguin/Reuters ) "We successfully evacuated 88,000 people," he said during a morning news conference. "No one is hurt and no one has passed away. Then, his voice breaking with emotion, he said: "I really hope that we can get to the end of this day and we can still say that." Speaking of neighbourhoods that had so far escaped the flames, he said: "This fire will look for them and it will find them, and it will try to take them. And our challenge today is to try to prevent that." By day's end it was unclear how successful those efforts had been. 
Morning dawns on the widespread devastation in Beacon Hill, where 80 per cent of homes were lost. (Sylvain Bascaron/CBC) |
