Tinder-dry forests fuel Canadian wildfires
Date: 30-May-02
Country: CANADA
The fire, which has been devouring vast tracts of woodlands near the tiny northeastern Alberta town of Conklin for about a week, has now spread over 1,200 square kilometres (470 square miles) of tinder-dry forest, an area roughly 1-1/2 times that of New York City.
Conklin's 250 residents were evacuated this week. The town is about 300 km (186 miles) northeast of Edmonton.
The so-called House River fire was within 13 km (8 miles) of Conklin yesterday, said Rick Strickland, the western province's forest fire information officer.
"We've done a pretty good job on holding the perimeter but under these conditions - very explosive conditions with these winds - you get a couple breaks in the line and the fire spreads," Strickland said.
The fire was also causing headaches for Alberta's large oil industry.
EnCana Corp. , the world's biggest independent explorer and producer, said it evacuated 21 workers on Monday from its new heavy oil plant at nearby Christina Lake.
Company spokesman Scott Ranson said the fire was burning about 17 km (11 miles) from the plant, which has yet to start pumping oil.
Staff at two natural gas compressor stations in the region were also forced to stay away from the facilities.
Strickland said winds of up to 30 km per hour (20 mph) winds and low humidity, the result of years of drought in the region, were making the battle difficult.
"Although rain would certainly help...it would still be difficult, but then we would have something to work with," he said. "There's no rain in the forecast for the next couple of days that would have any large impact on the fire."
Alberta is spending C$1.2 million ($780,000) a day on firefighters, helicopters, water bombers and heavy equipment to fight the blaze.
Firefighters have been brought in from neighboring British Columbia and as far away as Quebec to bolster Alberta's efforts to fight the fire, the province's 12th biggest in the past two decades. The cause of the fire is not known.
Much of the Prairie province of Manitoba is also facing an extreme fire risk due to hot, dry weather and lightning strikes.
More than 100 firefighters, supported by water bombers and bulldozers, battled a 3,000 hectare (7,400 acre) blaze burning out control near Red Deer Lake in the north-central part of the province yesterday.
About 25 people have been forced from their homes in the community of Powell. Another neighboring community, Barrows, is on a one-hour alert.
Fire investigators said they believe the blaze was deliberately set.
There have already been 281 forest fires in Manitoba this year, involving 12,100 hectares (30,000 acres).