FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA.—Suncor reports that it has conducted an orderly shutdown of its base plant operations and is making room in its camps for employees, their families and displaced Fort McMurray residents in wake of the wildfires ravaging the area.
"First and foremost, we’re doing what we can to ensure the safety and well-being of our employees, their families and members of the broader community," said Steve Williams, Suncor president and chief executive officer in a statement. Suncor’s facility is 15 miles north of Fort McMurray.
"To that end, we’ve been demobilizing non-critical staff to ensure that sufficient space is available for employees, their families and other Fort McMurray residents at our camps, we’ve activated our humanitarian grant program and through the Suncor Energy Foundation we have made a preliminary grant to the Red Cross of $150,000 in addition to matching employee donations. We will continue to support the relief effort and work closely with the regional emergency response to help coordinate the evacuation efforts."
As of the morning of May 5 the massive fire had moved south, forcing three more communities to evacuate and an emergency operations centre to move again, taking it far from the devastated oilsands city of Fort McMurray. Unseasonably hot temperatures combined with dry conditions have transformed the boreal forest in much of Alberta into a tinder box. Fort McMurray is surrounded by wilderness in the heart of Canada’s oilsands – the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The fire has dealt a blow to the region’s crude production, with companies curtailing production or stopping it altogether. Nexen shut down its Long Lake facility, just south of Anzac, to ensure the safety of staff in the event that the fire reaches the site.
Shell said it has shut down production at its Shell Albian Sands mining operations- about 60 miles north of Fort McMurray- so it can focus on getting families out of the region. Syncrude also reduced the number of people working at its Mildred Lake mine. Industrial Info Resources reports that there are 54 plant facilities and 149 projects worth more than $100 billion within a 50-mile radius of Fort McMurray.
Officials with the Rural Municipality of Wood Buffalo had been notified of changing weather patterns and weren’t taking chances, ordering the evacuation of Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation. The fire had already forced the evacuation of more 80,000 people and torched 1,600 homes and other buildings in Fort McMurray. The province of Alberta has declared a state of emergency.
Fort McMurray’s emergency operations centre relocated southward for the second time in a day and is now in Lac La Biche, Alberta, about 175 miles south of Fort McMurray, a three-hour drive.
As of May 4 the firefighting resources deployed to the area were 250 firefighters, 12 helicopters, 12 pieces of heavy equipment, 16 air tankers, 22 tanker trucks.
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