Wildfires in Canada’s Oil Sands Region Prompts Evacuation Orders

Wildfires erupted across Canada’s main oil producing province of Alberta and an evacuation order was issued as the region braces for a repeat of last year’s unprecedented season.

Members of the indigenous first nation community of Cold Lake Number 149, northeast of Edmonton on the Saskatchewan border, were told to evacuate, according to a notice issued at 4:49 pm local time. Other regions west of the Cold Lake blaze were put on standby, with three wildfires in the province listed as out of control as of late Monday.

More than 65% of Canada was abnormally parched or in drought at the end of March, leading the nation to brace for another smoke-filled summer. Unusually hot, dry weather contributed to the country’s worst-ever wildfire season last year, darkening skies over New York and other US cities and prompting Alberta oil and gas drillers to shut as much as 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of production.

An evacuation alert for residents of Saprae Creek, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) southeast of the oil sands capital of Fort McMurray, was canceled. Massive forest fires burned down swathes of Fort McMurray eight years ago, forcing thousands of residents to evacuate and temporarily shutting more than 1 million barrels a day of oil production.

Photograph: Smoke rises from the Cameron Bluffs wildfire near Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Photo credit: James MacDonald/Bloomberg

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• Drought, Heat Raise Risk of Repeat of Canada’s Record-Breaking Wildfires of 2023