Canadian oil town offers tale of two cities after wildfire sweeps through

The wildfire that swept through the Canadian city of Fort McMurray blazed a capricious trail. Swathes of homes were burned to the ground while nearby areas were unscathed and dotted with blooming lilacs, a tour showed on Monday

In Beacon Hill, one of the worst-hit neighborhoods of a city that booms and busts with the price of oil, houses on street after street were reduced to nothing more than blackened foundations and front steps. Metal barbecues stood outside some

Cars and trucks sat in some driveways on melted tires, streams of once-molten metal snaked from underneath

“This was a beast. It was an animal. It was a fire like I’ve never seen in my life,” Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen told reporters, who were allowed to tour the oilsands city by bus on Monday afternoon

The uncontrollable wildfire forced the evacuation of the entire city six days ago. Some 88,000 residents fled on the one highway that leads into the remote community in northern Alberta

While Allen told reporters he believes 85 percent of the city’s homes and businesses were still intact, much of the tour focused on the worst-hit neighborhoods where hundreds of homes were destroyed

In the devastated neighborhood of Abasand, one side of a street was intact, barely touched by fire, while town homes on the other side of the street were burned to the ground

Three bikes – an adult bike and two for children – leaned against a fence, burned to just their metal frames and wheel rims

Blackened ground and trees contrasted starkly with patches of green grass and flowers elsewhere. Sometimes they were just inches apart

“There’s not much left … It is pretty much destroyed,” Allen said of Beacon Hill

But some structures survived. Two schools were largely untouched, their brightly colored slides and swings eerily deserted as residents remained barred from re-entering the city. The Canadian flag still flew over the school complex, unmarked by the flames

Much of the downtown and key infrastructure such as a hospital and bridges were also spared, as firefighters gave up on some neighborhoods to focus on saving others

Allen said firefighters at one point had to work to save their own firehall. Nearby, a trailer park was largely destroyed

“I do truly believe we couldn’t do any more,” he said

 (Additional writing by Andrea Hopkins; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

REUTERS

شكرا للتعليق على الموضوع

مجدى قاعود

رئيس مجلس الإدارة مستشار قانوني صاحب مكتب قاعود للاستشارات القانونية وأعمال المحاماة