More details about Fort McMurray re-entry plan
Posted May 21, 2016 3:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
FORT MCMURRAY (NEWS 1130) – We are learning more about the re-entry plan for evacuees displaced by the Fort McMurray wildfire.
The Alberta Government wants to have people returning home starting on June 1st.
A number of conditions must be in place before residents will be permitted to return:
- Wildfire is no longer an imminent threat
- Critical infrastructure to support essential services is repaired and restored to provide a basic service level.
- Essential services are restored to basic level, including:
- Emergency Services (Fire, EMS, Police, 911)
- Open, safe transportation to, and within, the community (includes traffic controls)
- Access to emergency medical care and patient transport
- Access to potable water, electricity and gas
- Access to food, pharmaceuticals, banks and other essentials
- Access to mental health supports
- Hazardous areas are secure
- Local government is re-established
Timelines for re-entry
The phased re-entry of residents will occur by zones to allow for efficient and safe return to the community and ensure people have access to available services.
- Zone 1: Lower Townsite, Anzac, Fort McMurray 468 First Nation,
Gregoire Lake Estates (June 1) - Zone 2: Parsons Creek, Stone Creek, Timberlea, Eagle Ridge,
Dickinsfield (June 2) - Zone 3: Thickwood, Wood Buffalo (June 3)
- Zone 4(a): Gregoire, Prairie Creek, Saprae Creek Estates (June 3)
- Zone 4(b): Waterways, Abasand, Beacon Hill, Grayling Terrace, Draper (June 4)
Meanwhile, the Fort McMurray wildfire hasn’t caused too much trouble for nearly 200 bison that roam a reclaimed oilsands mine north of the city.
Greg Fuhr, vice president of mining and extraction with Syncrude Canada, says the bison herd on the company’s Mildred Lake property is doing well, even with fires raging nearby.
Syncrude was one of the oilsands sites evacuated early this week as the flames encroached, but critical staff who remain have checked in on the animals daily.
The full-time manager of the Beaver Creek Wood Bison Ranch has also flown in periodically, and says the animals are acting normal and a few calves have even been born in the last few days.
