Wildfire evacuation alert in place for major Canadian oil sands town Fort McMurray

The Alberta government has issued an evacuation alert for the Canadian oil sands town of Fort McMurray on account of a massive wildfire burning near it.

The alert was first issued Friday evening and remains in place as of Saturday morning. The fire is 16 km southwest of Fort McMurray at 1K hectares in size.

“This afternoon, with rising temperatures, fire activity is expected to increase,” the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo said in a statement, adding that along with helicopters and water bombing aircraft, heavy equipment had been brought in to fight the fire on the ground.

Fort McMurray is known as a major hub for the oil sands industry and has many companies operating in or near it. These names include Suncor Energy (SU) and the joint venture its operates, Syncrude; Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ); Cenovus Energy (CVE); and Imperial Oil (IMO), among others.

Canada in 2023 experienced its most destructive wildfire season yet. According to data from the Canadian government, the country saw over 6K fires that torched more than 16M hectares of land. To put that into perspective, Canada normally sees an average of 2.5M hectares of land consumed by wildfires every year.

Related stories

• Suncor Energy posts Q1 earnings beat as oil sands hits record quarterly output
• Shell sold millions of ‘phantom’ carbon credits to Canadian oil sands firms – FT
• Canadian Natural: Resilience And Returns Through The Cycle
• TC Energy gas pipeline explosion causes wildfire in Alberta
• Tamarack Valley shuts production after Alberta gas plant fire