MONTREAL: Thousands of people were ordered to
evacuate a city in the Canadian oil sands region due to a major wildfire
approaching Fort McMurray's north end, officials said on Tuesday (May
3).
The fire was "growing rapidly" toward the city
in Alberta province. Mandatory evacuations were now in effect for seven
neighborhoods in the city of 100,000, according to an alert issued
around 3.30pm (5.30am Singapore time Wednesday) by Alberta emergency
authorities.
Shortly afterwards, the situation worsened. "A
number of evacs under way, and likely more to come. Be calm. Be
prepared. Be ready to move politely in traffic to a safe destination,"
Mayor Melissa Blake tweeted.
Long lines of cars headed north via the main
highway of the city after police closed the southward lanes. Authorities
urged residents to head toward evacuation centres some 20 kilometres
away.
The fire, which was contained until Monday
south of Fort McMurray, was pushed toward the city by winds and quickly
reached homes, helped by a drought in Alberta. The province saw record
temperatures of nearly 30 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.
On Monday, an alert was issued and some 500 people were evacuated as a precaution due to smoke from the wildfire.
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