Page 2A
WEST
East Oregonian
Friday, May 6, 2016
Alberta wildire displaces 25,000 people
Associated Press
FORT
MCMURRAY,
Alberta — A massive wild-
ire raging in the Canadian
province of Alberta grew to
210,035 acres and oficials
said Thursday they would like
to move south about 25,000
evacuees who had previously
led north, including 8,000 by
air.
More than 80,000 people
have emptied Fort McMurray
in the heart of Canada’s oil
sands, authorities said.
The Alberta government
declared a province-wide ire
ban in an effort to reduce the
risk of more blazes in a prov-
ince that is very hot and dry.
“It is a very rare step,”
Alberta
Environment
Minister Shannon Phillips
said. Phillips called it an
offense to ignore the ban and
said it can lead to ines.
The government said
more than 1,100 ireighters,
145 helicopters, 138 pieces
of heavy equipment and 22
air tankers were ighting a
total of 49 wildires, with
seven considered out of
control. Chad Morrison with
AB Wildire, manager of
wildire prevention, said the
blaze grew rapidly, fueled
by gusting winds, and he
expected the ire to continue
to grow Thursday because of
dry conditions but it will be
away from the community.
The ire has torched 1,600
homes and other buildings in
Fort McMurray. There have
been no injuries or death
from the ires. The province
of Alberta declared a state of
emergency.
Alberta Premier Rachel
Notley said rain is needed.
She said she didn’t know how
much better the evacuation
could have been when asked
if ample warning was given
Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP
A wildire moves towards the town of Anzac from Fort McMurray, Alberta.,
on Wednesday. Alberta declared a state of emergency Wednesday as crews
frantically held back wind-whipped wildires. Unseasonably hot temperatures
combined with dry conditions have transformed the boreal forest in much of
Alberta into a tinder box.
to residents, noting that in
48 hours more than 80,000
people were evacuated from
a town that essentially has
two roads out of it.
Fort
McMurray
is
surrounded by wilderness and
is Canada’s main oil sands
town. Despite the size of the
town and its importance to
the Canadian economy, there
are essentially only two ways
out via car. The region has
the third largest reserves of
oil in the world behind Saudi
Arabia and Venezuela.
Aided by high winds,
scorching heat and low
humidity, the ire grew from
29 square miles Tuesday
to 38.6 square miles on
Wednesday, but by Thursday
it was almost nine times that
— at 328.2 square miles.
The
ire
remained
wrapped around the western
and southern edges of the city.
No rain clouds were expected
around Fort McMurray
until late Saturday, with 40
percent chance of showers,
according to online forecasts
by Environment Canada. The
chances drop to 30 percent
on Sunday and Monday, with
the skies then clearing up, the
service reported.
About 25,000 evacuees
moved north in the hours
after Tuesday’s evacuation,
where oil sands work camps
were being pressed into
service to house people. But
the bulk of the more than
80,000 evacuees led south
to Edmonton and elsewhere,
and oficials said they even-
tually would like to move
everyone south where they
have better support for the
displaced. Oficials are now
trying to ly 8,000 evacuees
out of the area starting
Thursday afternoon and are
hoping the highway becomes
safe enough to move people
that way.
“Our focus right now is on
getting those people south as
quickly as possible,” Notley
said.
Government oficials said
energy companies in the area
were prepared to use their
planes in an airlift and a mili-
tary aircraft was on standby.
Unseasonably
hot
temperatures combined with
dry conditions have trans-
formed the boreal forest in
much of Alberta into a tinder
box. Morrison said they are
investigating the cause of the
ire but he said it started in a
remote forested area and said
it could have been lightning.
A combination of factors
conspired to make this wild-
ire especially ferocious, said
Bill Patzert, a climatologist at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labo-
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REGIONAL CITIES
Forecast
TODAY
SATURDAY
Partly sunny
Very warm with
sunshine
80° 52°
82° 56°
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Mostly sunny and
not as warm
Partly sunny
TUESDAY
Nice with clouds
and sun
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
72° 46°
68° 40°
73° 44°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
85° 55°
88° 60°
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
LOW
68°
68°
96° (1966)
50°
44°
29° (1904)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.15"
0.15"
0.17"
4.55"
3.13"
5.32"
HERMISTON
through 3 p.m. yesterday
TEMPERATURE
HIGH
Yesterday
Normals
Records
LOW
71°
70°
95° (1966)
54°
44°
29° (1982)
PRECIPITATION
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
0.59"
0.59"
0.20"
3.57"
1.79"
4.22"
SUN AND MOON
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
New
First
May 6
May 13
74° 44°
78° 43°
Seattle
75/54
ALMANAC
Yesterday
Normals
Records
77° 49°
Full
5:35 a.m.
8:09 p.m.
5:54 a.m.
8:14 p.m.
Last
May 21
May 29
Today
Spokane
Wenatchee
77/54
84/58
Tacoma
Moses
76/46
Lake
Pullman
Aberdeen Olympia
Yakima 85/56
75/52
74/49
79/44
86/57
Longview
Kennewick Walla Walla
79/50
80/56 Lewiston
87/58
Astoria
81/56
70/50
Portland
Enterprise
Hermiston
82/55
Pendleton 69/49
The Dalles 85/55
80/52
87/59
La Grande
Salem
74/50
82/52
Albany
Corvallis 82/51
82/52
John Day
74/54
Ontario
Eugene
Bend
80/53
79/51
68/46
Caldwell
Burns
80/54
70/45
Astoria
Baker City
Bend
Brookings
Burns
Enterprise
Eugene
Heppner
Hermiston
John Day
Klamath Falls
La Grande
Meacham
Medford
Newport
North Bend
Ontario
Pasco
Pendleton
Portland
Redmond
Salem
Spokane
Ukiah
Vancouver
Walla Walla
Yakima
Hi
70
71
68
68
70
69
79
77
85
74
66
74
72
76
65
66
80
86
80
82
72
82
77
70
81
80
86
Lo
50
45
46
54
45
49
51
52
55
54
46
50
48
54
49
53
53
57
52
55
46
52
54
47
53
56
57
W
s
c
c
pc
c
t
pc
pc
pc
c
t
c
c
c
s
pc
c
pc
pc
s
c
pc
pc
c
s
pc
s
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
Sat.
Hi
65
76
75
65
74
72
79
80
88
76
73
76
74
83
62
62
80
89
82
82
78
81
81
74
81
81
89
Lo
49
44
42
52
44
47
51
52
60
50
41
48
46
52
49
52
51
56
56
53
41
51
54
42
51
58
55
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
W
s
pc
s
pc
t
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
s
s
s
s
s
c
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
WORLD CITIES
Today
Beijing
Hong Kong
Jerusalem
London
Mexico City
Moscow
Paris
Rome
Seoul
Sydney
Tokyo
Hi
78
89
67
72
82
67
75
71
67
77
71
Lo
48
80
53
54
51
44
53
51
50
57
62
W
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
pc
pc
sh
s
c
Sat.
Hi
79
89
68
73
84
70
75
71
72
76
75
Lo
48
79
52
56
56
43
54
53
51
63
62
W
pc
c
s
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
pc
s
r
WINDS
Medford
76/54
(in mph)
Klamath Falls
66/46
Boardman
Pendleton
REGIONAL FORECAST
Coastal Oregon: Partial sunshine today;
pleasant. Clear tonight. Sunshine and
patchy clouds tomorrow.
Eastern and Central Oregon: Mostly cloudy
today with a thunderstorm in spots; partly
sunny across the north.
Western Washington: Mostly sunny today.
Clear tonight. Sunny tomorrow. Sunday: a
shower in places.
Eastern Washington: Partly sunny today.
Clear to partly cloudy tonight. Plenty of
sunshine tomorrow.
Cascades: A shower or thunderstorm in
spots today; warmer. Clouds and sun across
the north.
Northern California: A thunderstorm today,
but showers of rain and snow in the interior
mountains.
Today
Saturday
NNE 8-16
N 7-14
NNE 6-12
NW 4-8
UV INDEX TODAY
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
1
4
6
6
4
he said. “There’s no way to
put out every ember lying
over ireighters’ heads.”
Fort McMurray resident
Fahed Labek, whose relatives
from war-torn Syria recently
migrated to northern Alberta
as refugees, said his family has
escaped one ire for another.
Labek led the encroaching
wildire two days ago with
family members, who arrived
in Canada in late February.
Labek, who made it to
Edmonton after a harrowing
journey, is concerned the
refugees are enduring addi-
tional trauma after leaving
the Middle East. But he said
he’s taking solace in the help-
fulness of Canadians now
assisting the tens of thou-
sands of forest ire evacuees.
The ire has dealt a
blow to the region’s crude
production, with companies
curtailing production or
stopping it altogether. Notley,
the province premier, said the
infrastructure for oil and gas
production remains largely
unaffected. What’s slowing
down production is that their
employees are not there, she
said.
The airport only suffered
minor damage because of
the “herculean”’ efforts of
ireighters, said Scott Long
of the Alberta Emergency
Management
Agency.
Fireighters have focused on
protecting key infrastructure
like the water treatment plant,
the hospital and the airport.
Morrison said four air
tankers from Quebec will
arrive Thursday and 100
ireighters are arriving from
Ontario.
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the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
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— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
ratory in California. The El
Nino global weather system
brought Alberta a mild
winter and low snowpack, he
said. Patzert said the lames
sparked at a time between
the snowy season and before
springtime rains that turn the
landscape green, making the
region especially vulnerable
to wildire.
The lames are moving
so fast that they are nearly
impossible to ight, he said.
“In a way, it’s a perfect
storm,” Patzert said. “It’s
been warm, it’s been dry and
windy. It’s the in-between
period before you’re in the
full bloom of spring.”
The ire is driving one
of the largest evacuations
in North America in recent
memory, said Bill Stewart,
co-director of the University
of California’s Center for Fire
Research and Outreach at
the University of California,
Berkeley.
With few exceptions in
the United States, an entire
town hasn’t been threatened
on this scale for over 100
years, he said, noting rather
that devastation has struck
neighborhoods and smaller
communities in California.
There is no stopping the
advance of a ire such as
the wind-driven lames in
Alberta, which is spreading
embers well beyond ire
lines, Stewart said. He noted
that the aggressive ire is also
unusual for burning so early
in the warm season and so far
north.
“You could add ive times
the number of ireighters, but
you can’t get all the embers,”
1
8 a.m. 10 a.m. Noon 2 p.m. 4 p.m. 6 p.m.
0-2, Low
3-5, Moderate 6-7, High;
8-10, Very High;
11+, Extreme
The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index™ num-
ber, the greater the need for eye and skin protection.
Forecasts and graphics provided by
AccuWeather, Inc. ©2016
-10s
-0s
showers t-storms
0s
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
40s
snow
ice
50s
60s
cold front
70s
80s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
110s
high
low
National Summary: A mosaic of rain will affect areas from the Carolinas to southern New
England today. Showers and storms will extend from California to the Rockies and along
the Canada border in the northern Plains.
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 97° in Chandler, Ariz.
Low 22° in Angel Fire, N.M.
NATIONAL CITIES
Today
Albuquerque
Atlanta
Atlantic City
Baltimore
Billings
Birmingham
Boise
Boston
Charleston, SC
Charleston, WV
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
El Paso
Fairbanks
Fargo
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Hi
81
72
54
55
64
74
77
55
74
66
76
63
84
80
70
92
61
83
84
83
70
76
80
71
78
67
Lo
48
51
49
47
49
50
57
47
54
46
58
46
62
48
51
61
43
42
72
57
54
52
60
54
54
55
W
pc
s
r
r
c
s
c
c
pc
sh
s
c
pc
s
s
s
pc
pc
pc
s
s
s
s
t
s
t
Sat.
Hi
69
80
59
66
68
82
71
58
81
75
61
71
84
60
69
82
59
72
83
83
79
81
81
72
85
67
Lo
44
61
52
54
47
58
53
50
62
54
41
45
65
40
41
56
38
43
71
62
48
56
60
57
61
56
Today
W
pc
s
c
c
c
s
t
c
s
pc
t
t
pc
t
t
s
pc
s
pc
pc
pc
s
t
pc
s
pc
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
Nashville
New Orleans
New York City
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland, ME
Providence
Raleigh
Rapid City
Reno
Sacramento
St. Louis
Salt Lake City
San Diego
San Francisco
Seattle
Tucson
Washington, DC
Wichita
Hi
73
76
81
73
85
73
78
55
81
85
57
78
60
58
64
82
63
66
79
73
69
64
75
80
58
82
Lo
55
56
61
56
55
50
60
51
58
58
50
60
42
47
49
47
48
53
60
53
59
54
54
54
50
59
W
s
s
s
s
pc
s
s
r
s
s
r
pc
c
sh
sh
t
t
t
s
t
t
t
s
pc
r
s
Sat.
Hi
82
84
81
57
70
84
81
62
82
73
66
77
54
64
73
63
63
68
86
68
67
66
79
79
68
83
Lo
58
64
65
41
46
62
63
52
62
53
55
62
44
49
57
41
49
53
58
53
59
53
52
55
57
61
Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain,
sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.
W
pc
s
s
c
s
s
s
c
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pc
c
t
c
c
pc
c
t
pc
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sh
c
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s
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c
pc