Wildfire Prompts Partial Evacuation of Canada’s Oil-Sands Capital

(Bloomberg) -- Portions of Fort McMurray, Alberta, are being evacuated as a wildfire approaches the city, the unofficial capital of Canada’s oil-sands industry that almost burned to the ground during a historic blaze eight years ago.

The 9,600 hectare (24,000 acre) blaze expanded overnight and is now about 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) from the Fort McMurray landfill, southwest of the city, Alberta Wildfire said in a release. Shifting winds caused the fire to grow in multiple directions and created large plumes of smoke. With winds expected to blow out of the west and southwest gusting to 35 kilometers an hour, “this will be a challenging day for firefighters,” the agency warned. 

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, where Fort McMurray is located, declared a state of local emergency on Tuesday because of the fire. Residents of the communities of Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek, and Grayling Terrace were ordered to evacuate. 

Fort McMurray, located in a remote and heavily forested part of the province, was ravaged by a blaze in 2016 that burned down large sections of the city, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate and temporarily shutting more than 1 million barrels a day of oil output. The fire caused about C$3.7 billion in insured losses, making it Canada’s costliest natural disaster.

The current fire is one of three that are listed as out of control in Alberta and the closest to the oil sands, where the bulk of Canada’s 4.9 million barrels a day of crude is produced. The fire prompted an alert on Friday that put the city’s 70,000 residents on notice that they should be ready to leave if necessary.

Rising temperatures across western Canada increased fire risk in recent days, contributing to poor air quality in Calgary over the weekend. Rain in the Fort McMurray area was supposed to ease the wildfires on Monday, but fire activity increased in the afternoon and into the evening, according to Alberta Wildfire. More than 65% of Canada was abnormally parched or in drought at the end of March, threatening another smoke-filled summer after last year’s fire season, which was Canada’s worst on record. 

Read More: ‘Zombie Fires’ Near Oil and Gas Wells Threaten Canada’s Drillers

The fire isn’t currently near any major oil-sands mines, but its southern perimeter is within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of Athabasca Oil Corp.’s Hangingstone well site, which produced almost 7,500 barrels of oil a day in February, Alberta Energy Regulator data show. The company didn’t respond to questions on the status of the facility. 

In addition, two Inter Pipeline Ltd. natural gas liquid lines and a Pembina Pipeline Corp. crude pipeline pass through the west end of the wildfire zone, according to Alberta Energy Regulator and Alberta Wildfire data. Inter Pipeline said in an email that its assets haven’t been affected by the blaze, but the company is monitoring the situation. Pembina didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. 

Meanwhile, a blaze in British Columbia continues to threaten the town of Fort Nelson, which lies on the northern edge of a major natural-gas producing region. Residents of the town of about 3,000 people are under an evacuation order, and new evacuation orders and alerts were issued Monday for nearby areas.  

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