Wildfire spared 90 per cent of Fort McMurray: Alberta premier

FORT MCMURRAY: Fort McMurray is still 90 percent intact despite a week of damage from the wildfires devastating Canada's oil sands region, Alberta's premier said after touring the ghost town on Monday.

Firefighters warned, however, that the tens of thousands of evacuated residents would not be able to return for at least two weeks.

"It was a miracle we got the entire population out safely," Alberta Premier Rachel Notley told reporters.

"Equally miraculous... the fast action and the hard work and dedication and the smarts of the first responders has, it appears, saved 90 percent of the city of Fort Mcmurray."



Notley commented after getting a first look at damage caused by the inferno more than a week after it began, forcing some 100,000 people to flee.

But with much work required to restore water, electricity, gas and other key infrastructure, fire chief Darby Allen said authorities would need two weeks before being able to provide a timeline for when the first residents would be allowed back home.

"If that fire had gotten into downtown, we would have lost the downtown area," he said.

Notley said she was "very much struck by the power of the devastation of the fire."

"The city was surrounded by an ocean of fire only a few days ago... It was quite overwhelming in some spots," she said.

"I will also say that I was similarly struck by the proximity of the devastation to neighborhoods that were untouched."

Some 200 structures were destroyed by the blaze that began in the forests west of the city but hundreds others were spared -- including the hospital and most of the schools, Notley said.



Despite the good news, the fire was still advancing to the east and has ravaged more than 200,000 hectares of forest, said Chad Morrison, senior wildfire manager for Alberta.

"We expect cooler temperatures the next two days to continue to help us to have success in the communities and areas," he added.

In total, 700 firefighters were on hand to battle the blaze, as well as 20 helicopters and 27 air tankers.