Fort McMurray burns

[Barrister]

From last night - a picture of people leaving Ft Mac.

[garbon]

Wow...

[Martinus]

Wow, that's really horrible.

[Barrister]

They estimate 17-20,000 people fled north into oilsands work camps, and 35,000 fled south to Edmonton and areas.  Those who fled north are assentially trapped - with no way to make it south.  The good news is those work camps are built to house these kinds of numbers of people, so they should be safe and secure for awhile.

Overnight fire crews were able to extinguish every building fire, but they're worried with the daylight heat and increasing winds that it might be worse than yesterday.

[The Brain]

[Jacob]

They estimate 17-20,000 people fled north into oilsands work camps, and 35,000 fled south to Edmonton and areas.  Those who fled north are assentially trapped - with no way to make it south.  The good news is those work camps are built to house these kinds of numbers of people, so they should be safe and secure for awhile.

Overnight fire crews were able to extinguish every building fire, but they're worried with the daylight heat and increasing winds that it might be worse than yesterday.

It's almost apocalyptic.

I've got a friend up there. Says he's safe and well supplied - so I assume he's in the work camp.

[PRC]

Two babies were born safely in one of the work camps from evacuees. 

[Admiral Yi]

How did the fire get up to the town with no advance warning?

[viper37]

Are there plans in place to avoid the city being razed to the ground?

Fire fighters from all surrounding communities, the armed forces and what resources BC can spare are on the way.  Unfortunately BC is contending with its own serious wildfire problem in the same geographical area and so the immediate assistance this Province can send is limited.

Quebec is sending help too, it's low season for forest fires here, we barely got above 0C this week and there's still snow in the woods.

[viper37]

https://www.facebook.com/TheWeatherChannel/videos/10154254779790921/

[viper37]

How did the fire get up to the town with no advance warning?

IIRC they thought it was under control, but it grew back in itensity.

[crazy canuck]

How did the fire get up to the town with no advance warning?

High temperatures 30C + and high winds.  There was a wild fire in the area and people were on alert that it might move toward town.  But when it did move, it was very fast.

[crazy canuck]

Yi, here is an article that provides a detailed explanation of how it happened so fast.

Brian Burnett, head instructor at Wildfire Specialists Inc., an Ontario training school, noted that the Fort McMurray area was experiencing a weather condition familiar to forest firefighters, the Crossover.

The Crossover happens when the numerical value for the ambient humidity is lower than the recorded temperature.

On Tuesday in Fort McMurray, while the mercury soared towards 30C, the humidity dropped to 15 per cent.

"It's just a recipe for a wildfire. This is such a difficult situation," Mr. Burnett said in an interview.

Such hot, dry conditions were made worse by the wind which pushed the flames toward the city.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/albertas-highway-of-fire/article29863650/

[Monoriu]

I need to have a better mental plan on what to pack if I need to leave in an emergency. 

First priority will be things that I absolutely need for immediate survival.  Things like mobile phone, home keys, car keys, wet towel, wallet and passport. 

Second priority will be valuable stuff and things that are difficult to replace, like cash, (wife's) jewels, credit and ATM cards, stash of foreign currency, ID documents, digital music files and anime subtitle files. 

Third priority will be stuff that I use everyday.  Ulcer and other kinds of drugs, some bottled water, some biscuits, toilet paper, some clothing etc.

[CountDeMoney]

I need to have a better mental plan on what to pack if I need to leave in an emergency. 

First priority will be things that I absolutely need for immediate survival.  Things like mobile phone, home keys, car keys, wet towel, wallet and passport. 

Second priority will be valuable stuff and things that are difficult to replace, like cash, (wife's) jewels, credit and ATM cards, stash of foreign currency, ID documents, digital music files and anime subtitle files. 

Third priority will be stuff that I use everyday.  Ulcer and other kinds of drugs, some bottled water, some biscuits, toilet paper, some clothing etc.

  You're so fucked.