FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta, May 21 (UPI) — Firefighters in Alberta said they should be able to make progress containing the Fort McMurray wildfire over the weekend and several camps north of the town have been reopened.
The progress is thanks to cooler, damper weather in the region, which saw trace amounts of rain Friday. Mandatory evacuation orders for several oilseeds camps north ofFort McMurray were lifted, municipal officials tweeted, though the town itself remains under a mandatory evacuation.
The wildfire, which now occupies about 1.2 million acres, has shrunk slightly over the last two days, firefighters said. They were able to make more progress on the “dozer line” — the bulldozer line meant to contain the wildfire — and helicopter loads of water were making progress in beating back the massive flames.
Among the odder problems generated by the wildfire is the increasing prevalence of black bears in Fort McMurray.
Wildlife officials said the bears are being attracted into the town by the smell of rotting food in abandoned homes. The bears are, like people, largely homeless thanks to the wildfire destroying so much of their surrounding habitat.
Wildlife officials told the CBC residents returning should be on the lookout for bears in places they previously would not have been.
