For anyone who's interested, here's a follow-up with some interesting side articles.
The fire has grown to some 1,600 square miles, pushed by low humidity and wind. Only rain can stop it now.
Fort Mac remains evacuated, except for first responders and experts who are trying to get essential services back online. The air quality index, usually measured 1-10 (with 10 being the worst) is at 38. Some 2,400 structures are believed to have been lost.
Oilsands installations north and west of Fort Mac remain shut down as workers were re-evacuated this week due to fire and smoke dangers. That's a production loss of some 1,000,000 barrels per day, a major financial hit to both the companies and the Province, which receives royalties.
A story on the experience of firefighters trying to save Fort Mac:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada...e-fort-mcmurrayA fascinating quote from the story above:
"Wildfire experts assess fires by the amount of power given off per metre of fire line. Above 4,000 kilowatts/metre, it is too dangerous for ground crews, Flannigan said. Above 10,000, air bombardment has little effect. “I’m guessing this will be probably around 100,000 kilowatts/metre,” he said. “It developed its own thunder storm. This happens during high-intensity fires. It generated lightning that started new fires. It’s the mother of new fires.”" The heart-warming experience of the town of Lac La Biche, population 3,000, which opened its doors to some 8000-12,000 evacuees:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/albe...rticle30025617/A story on what's called the "second disaster" -- the flood of ill-considered donations of stuff that isn't needed, but has to be dealt with somehow:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/nati...8527/story.htmlAnd, here's the concentrated experience and hard lessons learned by the town of Slave Lake, Alberta, which suffered a catastrophic fire in similar circumstances in 2011. I think anyone interested in emergency management and disaster recovery will find this instructive and thoughtful.
http://www.nadc.gov.ab.ca/Docs/Wisdom-Gained.pdf
Previous Topic
Index
