A view of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Wednesday April 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – An evacuation alert has been issued in Alberta for Fort McMurray as an out-of-control wildfire burns nearby.
Residents in the northern oilsands hub and the nearby community of Saprae Creek are being told to be ready to leave on short notice.
Alberta Wildfire says the blaze is about 16 kilometres southwest of Fort McMurray.
It said in the late afternoon that the wildfire was about two square kilometres in size, but by early evening that had grown to 10 square kilometres.
Fort McMurray has a population of about 68,000.
A wildfire there in 2016 destroyed roughly 2,400 homes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.
