{"id":20388,"date":"2016-05-03T19:10:27","date_gmt":"2016-05-04T00:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=20388"},"modified":"2016-05-03T19:10:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-04T00:10:27","slug":"massive-fire-burns-at-gateway-town-to-albertas-oilsands-30000-evacuated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=20388","title":{"rendered":"Massive Fire Burns At Gateway Town To Alberta’s Oilsands; 30,000 Evacuated"},"content":{"rendered":"

Massive Fire Burns At Gateway Town To Alberta’s Oilsands; 30,000 Evacuated<\/a><\/h3>\n
Residents of neighborhoods in the Canadian boomtown of Fort McMurray – considered the gateway to Alberta’s oil sands as the Athabasca oil sands are roughly centered around the town – are under mandatory evacuation as a massive wildfire has jumped across Highway 63 and entered the city limits.\u00a0 Homes have begun to burn in Fort McMurray as residents flee for safety from a blaze that\u2019s doubled in size within a day.\u00a0 More than 30,000 people have now been ordered to evacuate Fort McMurray communities.<\/div>\n
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The fire has already destroyed homes on the outskirts of the municipality. Bernie Schmitte, wildfire manager at Alberta Agriculture and Forestry\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0that the fire made a “major run” during the night and reached the Athabasca River. All Air Canada and WestJet flights to and from Fort McMurray have been cancelled<\/p>\n