Tens of thousands of Fort McMurray, Alberta, residents yesterday were expected to begin trickling back into the Canadian oil city ravaged by wildfires after the blaze was declared no longer a threat.
“Getting life back to a degree of normalcy in the immediate [future] is the key, and obviously for those people who have lost their homes tragically it is to make sure they have the supports they need,” said Scott Long, head of the Alberta Emergency Management agency.
The fire, which forced the evacuation of nearly 100,000 people from the city and surrounding villages, remains out of control.
However, it has moved away from populated areas as it heads eastward, while growing only minimally in the last few days to more than 566,560 hectares.
Smoke has largely dissipated in the city itself, raising local air quality to safe levels.
“At this time the fire does not pose any immediate threat to Fort McMurray or surrounding communities,” Alberta wildfire manager Chad Morrison said.
The residents were scheduled to begin returning at 8am yesterday, with police monitoring traffic flows and ambulances on standby.
Rest stops have been set up along the 500km route from Edmonton to Fort McMurray.
The Red Cross has offered to bus in up to 2,000 people per day.
The repatriation will be voluntary and phased in over two weeks to prevent highway gridlock.
However, three hard-hit neighborhoods — Abasand, Beacon Hill and Waterways — will be closed off until September, when remediation and cleanup are expected to be completed.
Most of the homes in these neighborhoods, which have been fenced off by a 30km enclosure, were burned to the ground when fires swept through at the beginning of last month.
More than 500 undamaged houses and apartments were deemed unsafe for habitation this week after tests of air, soil and ash revealed chemical and heavy metal contamination.
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