A state of local emergency is unfolding near a major city in Alberta's oil sands region as an out-of-control wildfire grows in size, potentially putting various communities in its path.
The wildfire to the southwest of Fort McMurray, Alberta, has grown to about 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) after more than tripling in recent days, prompting officials to issue an evacuation order to residential communities on the southern part of the city on Tuesday.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has told residents in Beacon Hill, Abasand, Prairie Creek and Grayling Terrace to evacuate while the rest of Fort McMurray and neighbouring communities remain on an evacuation notice.
"These neighbourhoods directly interface with where the fire could potentially spread. Regional Emergency Services will better be able to defend these neighbourhoods from wildfire if they are uninhabited and clear," said the municipality.
Alberta's largest northeast city has a population of about 75,000 with many employed by oil sands operators in the region which pump out a combined 2mn b/d of crude. This comes in the form of both synthetic crude and diluted bitumen, representing roughly half of Alberta's output.
No evacuation orders have been made for oil sands projects, so far, with most being about 40 kilometres (25 miles) or more north of Fort McMurray.
Some oil sands projects have already been winding down for seasonal maintenance.
There are about 50 active fires in the province. One other, near Grande Prairie in the northwest, is also out of control.
About 400,000 b/d of oil equivalent (boe/d) were shut in a year ago in what was the worst wildfire season on record, according to the province. The blazes mostly affected operations in the liquids- rich northwest part of the province, but at least one oil sands project also had to temporarily evacuate.
Wildfires also affected Alberta production in 2019, but the most devastating for the region was three years earlier, when fires forced mass evacuations and destroyed parts of Fort McMurray. Wildfires in the spring of 2016 knocked about 1mn b/d of crude output off line.
"It's important to note that fire activity is very different than the 2016 Horse River wildfire and we are well positioned to respond to this situation," said regional fire chief Jody Butz on Tuesday.
