88,000 flee as major wildfire breaks out at Fort McMurray, Canada

[Bob]

Epic wildfire threatens to engulf Canadian city as 88,000 flee

They say its bad.

A massive wildfire is burning that has forced the evacuation of all 88,000 people from the western Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray and burned down 1,600 structures has the potential to destroy much of the town, authorities said on Wednesday.

With a few neighborhoods already in ruins, worsening fire conditions Wednesday pushed walls of flames towards thousands of more homes in the northeastern Alberta town, in the heart of Canada's oil sands region.

Authorities said there had been no known casualties from the blaze itself, but fatalities were reported in at least one car crash among the evacuees. Thousands bunked down in arenas, hockey rinks and oil work camps, often short of fuel and food.

A huge cloud of black smoke was visible from well over 60 km (37 miles) away from the town. Traffic on the main road headed south had thinned to a trickle, however, after major jams on Tuesday when the evacuation order was given.

Stretches of the highway had been converted into make-shift campgrounds by people in cars, trucks and recreation vehicles, who were fleeing the inferno.

Residents fleeing this Canadian wildfire are short of fuel, food.

The regional government said two other neighborhoods, Abasand and Waterways, had sustained "serious loss." Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said a total of about 1,600 structures have been destroyed in Fort McMurray.

"There are certainly areas within the city that have not been burned, but this fire will look for them and it will find them and it will want to take them," said Chief Darby Allen of the Fort McMurray fire department.

The province declared a state of emergency for what was shaping up to be Canada's costliest natural disaster.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=jzWG7t5a4VA

[Bob]

Hell on earth..

[DeDukshyn]

Was waiting for someone to post on this ...

More than 1600 home destroyed so far ...

http://globalnews.ca/news/2681249/fo...ine-of-events/

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Sqj2bm1VwF0

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ts_6oSzfWVY

We'll see what's left when its over ...

A few have been calling it "Oilsands Karma" -- (Fort Mac is the nearest city to the Alberta oilsands - most projects' workers are based from there). Anyone have thoughts on this? Perhaps I should explain this more. Alberta has been extremely dry and hot this spring which contributed directly to these fires. Yesterday in Calgary it was over 27C (81F) and it has been much the same across Alberta, with a little more heat central even and no rain at all; many environmentalists are citing "climate change" - and "Big Oil" is cited as the biggest contributor. So there's the irony in some people's minds.

I don't mean to detract from the inevitable personal loss this will have on many.

[3(C)+me]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=XKaM6bw_S5U

[Bob]

These folks could use some support.

I would not call it karma.

One could check weather conditions to see if it was an 'act of god', or forensically see if it was started by accident or by 'eco-terrorists'.

It's a serious situation and many innocents are affected.

ref:

Former Alberta NDP candidate criticized for calling Fort McMurray fire ‘karmic’

Tom Moffatt tweeted out Tuesday evening that the current state of the oil and gas town is no coincidence, calling it “Karmic #climatechange”. He also used the hashtag #FeelTheBern in the post.

Many on social media were outraged by Moffat’s comment, as they felt he was being insensitive to the emergency situation going on in Fort McMurray.

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by Bob (here)
These folks could use some support.

I would not call it karma.

One could check weather conditions to see if it was an 'act of god', or forensically see if it was started by accident or by 'eco-terrorists'.

It's a serious situation and many innocents are affected.

As you posted that I was updating my post above ... And I agree.

[Bill Ryan]

.
Quite a few readers may not know where Fort McMurray is. It's in Northern Alberta, about 300 miles north of Edmonton, here:

[DeDukshyn]

Here's a blog posting regular updates ... more evacuations in surrounding communities.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada...y7f?li=AAggv0m

[ghostrider]

It is my opinion, these massive fires are set intentionally, oil is always in the area... hmmm ... if I am correct, two more fires should occur within this month...

[Foxie Loxie]

Why Canada, I wonder?

[avid]

Please - here is a positive reason to implement geo-engineered rain, after all, we know that it's done regularly now.
All areas in drought globally can be saved, unless there is another 'agenda' of course.... 🙄

[DeDukshyn]

It seems a huge number of homes are destroyed, 90% in some community areas. perhaps up to 50% or more in the city? All surrounding communities got an evacuation order late last night. Not many new details, but it's looking grim.

The 1:20 mark on this video is pretty intense -- keep in mind this video was shot on a sunny day - that's how bad the smoke is ...

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=i13EDTnoj1w

[DeDukshyn]

Posted by ghostrider (here)
It is my opinion, these massive fires are set intentionally, oil is always in the area... hmmm ... if I am correct, two more fires should occur within this month...

Well during the evacuation there was a major highway accident that started another fire. Northern BC / Alberta have seen several fires this year already.

[Bob]

Posted by ghostrider (here)
It is my opinion, these massive fires are set intentionally, oil is always in the area... hmmm ... if I am correct, two more fires should occur within this month...

Hmmm... So, the expression is "eco-terrorism" at the cost of harming innocent lives, the environment (no doubt more pollution emits from the fires than from using natural gas in vehicles).. Throwing the baby out with the bathwater.. is a better analogy. Destroy the environment in the view of, "saving it"..

It seems to me it would be good to understand the "logic" in how that works, and to see if the fires there in Alberta were intentionally set, and which group (if that's the case), claims responsibility.

I would tend to feel Dedukshyn's observations of climate conditions more likely are the issue: "Perhaps I should explain this more. Alberta has been extremely dry and hot this spring which contributed directly to these fires. Yesterday in Calgary it was over 27C (81F) and it has been much the same across Alberta, with a little more heat central even and no rain at all.." with lightning being the issue..

If some camper started a fire that got out of control.. another possibility.. A fire at an extraction plant certainly is a possibility.. The muskeg surrounded oil fields up north are very isolated (at times), and there is a very large buffer between where the heated steam is generated and pumped underground to, "melt" the thick shallow oil.

Other extractions use strip mining techniques, and a lot of water and solvents to strip out the oil from the rock. Again that would be highly controlled as to what flammable substances are brought into exposure with ignition sources.

Strip Mining method:

The "oil sands" are VAST in Canada and potentially hold many reserves. Its not just located in the Fort McMurray area :

The oilsands promise offered many people jobs throughout Alberta, and a hope for Canada to have a large export Commodity (provided that it could be pipelined out). The KEYSTONE PIPELINE is a highly contested by environmentalists. It though provides a way to get the energy transported out of the oil sands fields to both the US (proposed) and through Canada. China has expressed interest in backing development of the pipeline through Canada westward, to the coast where they could obtain the energy, (bypassing any shipments and sales in the US).

Fort McMurray is at the confluence of the Athabasca River and the Clearwater River.

"Normal" view looking north on Highway 63:

The area is immensely used as a hunting fishing area, wildlife refuges, and largely undeveloped for any reason. It is wilderness although the large city sprung up.
(see: http://www.tripmondo.com/canada/alberta/fort-mcmurray/) - located in Canada - about 1,709 mi (or 2,750 km) North-West of Ottawa, the country's capital town.

Statistics (First week of May 2016):
Morning Temperature 16°C / 61 °F
Evening Temperature 17°C / 63 °F
Night Temperature 12°C / 54 °F
Chance of rainfall 0%
Air Humidity 23%

What makes the oil sands area economically "interesting" are surface seeps of Bitumen (the heavy oil tar) naturally rising to the surface which caught the attention of the locals, and later the explorers who realized such could be extracted (and converted into fuel).

Early uses was for roadbeds, "black top" mixing with sands, and crushed rocks:

The heavy oil NATURALLY seeps out of the rock - creating "natural pollution". Was one of the millions of natural seeps hit by lighting? or what?

[DeDukshyn]

It should also be explained that of the 90,000 residents that live in Fort McMurray, probably 75% of them are employed directly by the Alberta oilsands projects. All the big oilsands producers have either shutdown operations or reduced them while their employees deal with the distaster. This has resulted in a 25% drop in Canada’s oil production already. I’ll also note that the US buys more oil from Canada now than Saudi Arabia and Iran combined.

Oil prices have already risen due to this disaster … and it will be a while before these people can get back to work – this is going to have pretty serious impact …

[avid]

However Bob, remedial methods, used globally, could have been used to pre-empt this catastrophe. No excuse for 'natural' any more, unless another 'agenda'.

[Bob]

Looking through "conspiratorial glasses", one oil refinery shutting down for maintenance causes a few cents a gallon rise in pump prices.

A region shutting down shuts down feedstock for refineries, and the result could be many dollars rise in end pump prices.

Oil prices rose on Thursday as a huge wildfire near Canada's oil sands region and escalating tensions in Libya stoked concern among investors over a near-term supply shortage.

Brent crude futures rose 91 cents, or 2 percent, on the day to $45.53 a barrel by 12:08 p.m. ET (1608 GMT)

The oil industry has said that a major change is needed to "force" the price per barrel of oil back up to > 60$ (US) per barrel (42 gallon of liquid to the barrel).. Before what appeared to be a manipulated "crash" of the oil industry, prices were predicted to go above 160$ (US) per barrel. Organics from the oil are used across the world, not just for fuel, but in lubricants uses, cooling system uses, paints, and even in the medical field as in drug manufacturing (methanol, for instance).

A 'shortage' or even a perceived shortage created by forced cutbacks, drives the price of oil UP (speculation)..

So the shutting down of a region which supplies oil to Canada AND the US would significantly economically impact those two countries. Obama visits the Saud, Canada gets an oil supply issue. hmmm..

It would be curious to see if another oil sands area, i.e. Cold Lake and Peace River,

in Alberta has one of those "regional fires" as predicted in another member's post above..

-

[CurEus]

Posted by avid (here)
Please - here is a positive reason to implement geo-engineered rain, after all, we know that it's done regularly now.
All areas in drought globally can be saved, unless there is another 'agenda' of course.... 🙄

I just said the same thing to my mother..she noted: Geonengineering never benefited Australia or California>

A while ago I came across a thread about a global meditation for Peace. Would or COULD a gathering of minds bring some much needed rain to the area or will chemtrails kill off any intentions of people?

[Bob]

What is being produced at the Fort McMurray oil sands region?

"The wildfire one kilometre west of Gregoire in Fort McMurray remains out of control and has burned approximately 2650 hectares," according to Alberta's Agriculture and Forestry Ministry.

At press time on Wednesday the fires had burned more than 10,000 ha and were expected to rage out of control for the rest of the day.

At least one energy producer near Fort McMurray has been affected by these fires -- Suncor has cut production at its oil sands close to the hotspots.

"Our plant is 25 kilometres north of Fort McMurray and in a safe condition. However, we are reducing production at our regional facilities in order to allow employees and their families to get to safety," according to an official release.

Fort McMurray is situated in resource rich Alberta province, which has one of the largest refining and petrochemical industries in Canada, producing ethylene, polyethylene, ethylene glycol and linear alpha olefins. Most petrochemical production occurs in Joffre and Fort Saskatchewan, which has four ethane-cracking plants including two of the world's largest, with a combined annual capacity to produce 8.6 billion pounds of ethylene.

Major monoethylene glycol (MEG) producer and supplier MEGlobal has operations in Fort Saskatchewan, approximately 400 km away.

According to the Government of Alberta, the province produces 2 million b/day of crude oil of which about 75% is raw bitumen from oil sands. Five operating upgraders in Alberta have the capacity to handle 1.2 million b/day of bitumen. Four operating refineries in Alberta have a combined crude processing capacity of over 450,000 b/day.

A website, www.HelpFortMac.com, has been set up for those that want to offer a place to stay and other aid for the evacuees. Help is coming not only from northern Alberta communities but from as far away as Calgary but from across the country.

[Bob]

Price manipulation a 'presumed motive' behind the fire?

Saudi Arabia is largely responsible for the dramatic fall in oil and gas prices in recent months, a U.S. government official said (in February 3, 2015).

Richard Fisher, the head of the Dallas Federal Reserve, said "the Saudis have engineered" the oil crisis. He was speaking Wednesday at the Economic Club of New York.

"We are a huge supplier of energy. The Saudis took a while to realize what was going on," Fisher said, referring to the massive growth of the U.S. oil industry in recent years.

Fisher is the most prominent U.S. official to pin the blame largely on Saudi Arabia.

An OPEC leader says: "Oil could shoot back to $200"

As recently as July, oil traded at over $100 a barrel. By January, it had plunged below $50. It later bottomed below 30$ (US) per barrel.

Who is attacked by the Saud's forcing/manipulating? Iran. Iran is trying to make a come-back, and OIL production from Iranian fields is the Saudi's biggest threat. Fisher told reporters. Iran's economy needs oil to trade around $135. Saudi has far larger cash reserves and is thus able to withstand a downturn in prices for much longer.