[dissident]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WildRose', 'I') live in Alberta rockdoc. I'm aware of the decreased snowfalls of recent winters, milder temperatures, hardly any standing water in early spring - there was not much moisture for the forest to begin with, since we had hardly any snow. Do you know that outdoor skating is something we can hardly do in Alberta now in the winter? We're lucky if we can keep an ice rink going for 4 weeks or so with the constant melting during the day and lack of good, cold temperatures at night. I used to run in winter temperatures of -30 to -35, haven't had to dress for that in a long time. Being an outdoor enthusiast, I see and feel the dryness, look at the trees and know they're struggling, see varieties of plants and weeds growing that have appeared from the south and grow here now. And the wind - all year long. Used to only be strong for 6 weeks or so in the spring, you could expect it then, but now it's rare to have a calm day. How do you explain all of this with just "weather"?

[vox_mundi]

Canada wildfire explodes in size, evacuees urged to go to cities

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ') A raging Canadian wildfire grew explosively on Saturday as hot, dry winds pushed the blaze across the energy heartland of Alberta and smoke forced the shutdown of a major oil sands project

Firefighting officials said the inferno, pushed northeast towards neighboring Saskatchewan by high winds and fueled by tinder-dry forests, was set to double in size to 300,000 hectares by the end of Saturday.



The full extent of property losses in Fort McMurray has yet to be determined, but one analyst estimated insurance losses could exceed C$9 billion ($7 billion).

Within Fort McMurray, visibility is often less than 30 feet (9 meters) due to the smoke, making it still very dangerous to circulate in the city, said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

... Quite how quickly Fort McMurray can recover is unclear. Earlier in the day Alberta premier Rachel Notley said the city's gas had been turned off, its power grid was damaged and the water undrinkable.

Scott Long of the Alberta emergency management agency said planning had started for residents to return once the city was safe. "There is no timeline on that but I am not looking at months," he told the briefing later on Saturday.

Around 25,000 residents who initially went north found themselves cut off in overcrowded conditions. Larivee said she hoped the entire group would have moved south by the end of Saturday.

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('onlooker', 'W')ild if I may ask, what is the status of whether it will be able to reach the Tar Sands fields?

[WildRose]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dissident', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('WildRose', 'I') live in Alberta rockdoc. I'm aware of the decreased snowfalls of recent winters, milder temperatures, hardly any standing water in early spring - there was not much moisture for the forest to begin with, since we had hardly any snow. Do you know that outdoor skating is something we can hardly do in Alberta now in the winter? We're lucky if we can keep an ice rink going for 4 weeks or so with the constant melting during the day and lack of good, cold temperatures at night. I used to run in winter temperatures of -30 to -35, haven't had to dress for that in a long time. Being an outdoor enthusiast, I see and feel the dryness, look at the trees and know they're struggling, see varieties of plants and weeds growing that have appeared from the south and grow here now. And the wind - all year long. Used to only be strong for 6 weeks or so in the spring, you could expect it then, but now it's rare to have a calm day. How do you explain all of this with just "weather"?

[WildRose]

Should mention also that the oil sands sites have really substantial fire breaks around them and also their own firefighting crews.

[WildRose]

Found this:

Fire burned around the Nexen Long Lake facility and officials have been checking its condition with satellite photos. “Initial assessment on the Nexen Long Lake facility is that likely the facility is OK, but it’s still obscured by smoke,” Morrison said.

http://edmontonjournal.com/business/ene ... s-shutdown

[dohboi]

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n ... res-sunday

Good News: The wildfire hasn't grown as much as feared
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')“We expect to hold the fire,” said Chad Morison with Alberta Wildfire, estimating the size at just 161,000 hectares [~= 620 sq miles ] at noon Sunday, much smaller than previously expected. On Saturday, fire officials said they expected it to hit 200,000 hectares by midnight.

The fire did not reach the closest Suncor and Syncrude oilsands sites, and the Nexen Long Lake facility appears to have sustained minimal damage. Inside the city, fire crews are still putting out hotspots. They were able to protect most of the city’s critical infrastructure, including its hospital and water treatment facility.

[vox_mundi]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36244499

http://www.macleans.ca/economy/how-bad- ... e-economy/

[dohboi]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/05/11/c ... use-gasses

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he fires in Fort McMurray have already covered about 10 per cent of the average territory burned by wildfires every year in Canada — a significant feat for one fire so early in the season

[GoghGoner]

When low EROEI projects stop, the energy consumption stops along with the supply. Interesting dynamics since we have started migrating to low EROEI oil supply.

https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/weekly/

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he wildfires in Alberta near its oil sands operations have led to low consumption of natural gas, which is used in oil sands mining operations, and all-time lows in Canadian natural gas prices.

The Alberta fires began Sunday, May 1, southwest of Fort McMurray, a major center of oil sands activity, and led to the evacuation of the city, but destruction was less widespread than originally feared. Officials estimate 85% - 90% of homes and buildings remain intact. By some industry analyst estimates, oil production fell by about 1 million barrels per day. Trade press reports indicate natural gas consumption has declined in the past week as a result. In addition to its use in mining and upgrading operations, natural gas is also used by many oil sands producers to operate cogeneration facilities. Declines in crude oil production are largely the result of the evacuation of oil workers, rather than direct damage to oil fields.

Media reports estimated consumption of natural gas in Alberta fell by close to 25%. While Canadian spot prices rose in the early days of the fires last week, these declines in consumption pushed prices to record lows. On the AECO trading point, a major hub for spot natural gas markets in Canada and represents all deliveries along TransCanada's Alberta pipeline system, prices dropped to $0.55 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Monday, their lowest price in the 14-year available history. By Wednesday, prices had recovered to $1.12 as some producers restarted operations. Prices at AECO had been relatively low before the fires, due at least in part to high storage levels in the United States and Canada. According to some industry analyst estimates, Alberta storage is nearing capacity and could be full within the next few months.

[Subjectivist]

How long until residents are allowed to return and oil mining resumes? I suspect it will take at least a week to go from cold start back to full production, and that can't happen until the pipelines are checked out and able to go back in service moving the oil.

[GoghGoner]

Crews are still putting out fires in the north end of the city so I wonder how much longer it may be -- longer than the officials may hope.

14 million barrels or about $760-million

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')s. Notley met on Tuesday with Suncor chief executive officer Steve Williams and other oil bosses to map plans to get the plants up and running. “We agree that operations will only restart when it is absolutely safe to do so,” she said. Mr. Williams said there was no damage to the sites north of Fort McMurray. “Our employees are very keen to get back in,” he said. “Some facilities are simply turning up the volumes now. Some will be more difficult and could be a week or two.”

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')As the planning inches forward to eventually get thousands of Fort McMurray evacuees back into their homes, the province will help reunite many of those forced to flee the flames with their vehicles by escorting small groups into the city on a “first-come, first-served basis.”

In a statement released late Sunday afternoon, Alberta government officials said vehicles abandoned north of Highway 63 and 881, as well as those in the way of crews working on clean-up inside the city are being towed to a yard within Fort McMurray.

Residents are asked to call 780-310-4455 to find out if their car is at the lot and arrange access.

Vehicles that were left legally parked in the community and did not impede emergency responders have not been towed and therefore may not be retrieved at this time.

The province said all people retrieving their vehicles will be accompanied in and out of Fort McMurray by RCMP – with no opportunity for detours or inspections of homes or businesses.

According to officials, owners will need to provide their driver’s licence or other documentation and show that the vehicle registration corresponds with that information.

While authorities can’t guarantee abandoned vehicles will start, additional fuel will be provided by the province to allow drivers to reach the nearest gas station.

The blaze earlier this month effectively cut Fort McMurray in two, forcing about 25,000 people north and another 70,000 south down Highway 63.

[WildRose]

This fire is causing some new challenges for the city of Fort McMurray as hot spots are whipped up by wind, really low (15%) humidity level, and warmer temperatures again this week. Firefighters had a tough day yesterday due to increasing smoke. Air quality level in Fort McMurray is currently 38 (normally air quality level of 10 is considered extreme), so that will hinder attempts to get people back to Fort McMurray. The workers who are trying to do clean up and restore utilities, etc., are being advised to use respiratory masks, take more days off, and some have been advised to hang back until there are better air quality conditions.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2703904/extre ... try-plans/

[dohboi]

Thousands evacuated from work camps north of Fort McMurray in face of ‘expanding and growing’ firestorm:

About 4,000 workers spread between 12 work camps near Fort McMurray have been told to evacuate as the wildfire moves rapidly north.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')ccording to Alberta Emergency Alert, the wildfire is “expanding and growing in size” and all camps located up to and including Ruth Lake Lodge, about 30 kilometres north of the city, as well as those camps and production facilities on Aostra Road, are being told to leave.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo says the fire is gobbling 30 to 40 metres of forest per minute and is now only six kilometres from Tower Road, a dirt road where several residential trailers are located.

[Cid_Yama]

I thought the earlier good news sounded like political, "move along, nothing to see here." And I was right.

Wildfires scramble workers from Alberta oil camps
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'H')undreds of workers at several small oil camps north of Canada's main oil sands city were ordered to evacuate Monday because of a quickly spreading wildfire, and a precautionary evacuation is under way for several thousand more workers in the area.

There are about 4,000 workers at 12 camps in the area, many of them at the large Suncor and Syncrude sites. The fire is 9 to 13 miles south of the Suncor and Syncrude sites.

The Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo said the fire is moving 33 to 44 yards per minute and is expected to burn 3.7 miles in two hours. Officials say thick smoke is also posing a hazard.

"When you have this kind of extreme fire behaviour it doesn't matter what tankers you put in front of it, it doesn't matter how many helicopters, Mother Nature is going to want to continue to move that fire forward.''

Crews continued to battle hot spots on the edge of Fort McMurray on Monday while the fire still raged out of control deeper in the forest. Hot, dry conditions were not helping firefighters.

Earlier Monday, officials warned the air quality in the Fort McMurray area was dangerously poor.

The air quality health index is normally one to 10, with 10 being the worst, but the reading on Monday morning was at 38.

Karen Grimsrud, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, said they expect the air quality readings to remain in the extreme range for the next couple of days.

She said workers in the area should be wearing respirators.

[dohboi]

Yeah, the msm is mostly treating this like it's yesterday's news...something to 'reflect upon'....

As rs pointed out in his recent post: " this immense fire is now about 250,000 hectares in size (965 square miles). Having grown 90,000 hectares (350 square miles) since last weekend, the blaze, which many now call The Beast, has over the past seven days expanded by 60 percent. The fire now shows every sign of exploding once again despite an intense effort by more than 1,000 firefighters."

https://robertscribbler.com/2016/05/16/ ... res-grows/

[EdwinSm]

The fire is heading to the oil areas now (although I know they have huge fire breaks and firefighting equipment etc)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BBC', 'A')round 12,000 people have been urged to leave Canada's oil sands camps near the fire-hit town of Fort McMurray as a resurgent wildfire heads towards them.

A regional official told the BBC that 8,000 people were given precautionary evacuation orders late on Monday, in addition to some 4,000 who had already been advised to leave.

.....
Meanwhile, work is under way to restore essential services to Fort McMurray, paving the way for the return of the 80,000 residents.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said on Monday that electricity had been restored to most of the city, the water-treatment plant was working and the airport was ready to reopen.

[Cid_Yama]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') massive wildfire around the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray, Alberta, moved towards energy production facilities on Tuesday.

The fire jumped a critical firebreak area where plants and trees had been removed to stop its spread late Monday, moving north of Fort McMurray into oil sand camp areas. Some 4,000 workers were evacuated in the heavily forested northern part of the province.

The uncontrolled blaze covered 285,000 hectares (704,000 acres), officials said Monday and was moving 30 to 40 meters (98 to 131 feet) per minute.

"When you have this kind of extreme fire behaviour it doesn't matter what tankers you put in front of it, it doesn't matter how many helicopters, Mother Nature is going to want to continue to move that fire forward.''

TransAlta Corp's Poplar Creek cogeneration power plant, which provides power to Suncor, was also shut by early Tuesday due to the wildfire.

As of the time of writing, the wildfires had expanded to almost 1,100 square miles and is expected to spread.

[Cid_Yama]

Alberta wildfire expected to reach Saskatchewan today
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '&')quot;We expect the eastern front of this fire to reach the Saskatchewan border likely today with the western winds, but it is a dynamic situation," Alberta's senior wildfire manager Chad Morrison told reporters Tuesday morning.

There has been no significant rainfall in this entire area recently, leading to extremely dry conditions that are expected to continue, the province says.