Wildfires affecting homeowners and business in Northern Alberta
Posted May 26, 2015 8:20 am.
Last Updated May 26, 2015 8:32 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Mother Nature is the latest force to conspire against Alberta’s oil patch.
Wildfires have been raging across the province and have forced a number of evacuations which have shut down oilsands production in the northeast.
All of the fires combined have put about 10 per cent of the province’s oil output offline.
Some major companies affected include Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, and Conoco Phillips.
No damage has been reported to any of the facilities as of yet, but road access has been cut-off in many cases with hundreds of workers being evacuated.
The setback is not expected to cause any long term damage to the operations.
Meteorologist David Spence said we need a lot of moisture, but we’re only getting a little and it may do more harm than good.
“There’s not a lot of rain, we might only get about 10 millimetres of rain in any one given spot over the next few days, but the lightning could pose a hazard and may very well start some new fires,” he said.
The government issued a province-wide fire ban Monday, and wildfire hazards were listed as high to extreme across most of the province.
About 2,000 people are now out of their homes in northern Alberta.
