More than 1,000 firefighters, including 100 from right here in Montana, are on their way to the area as The Fort McMurray is nowhere near under control.
Five teams from Montana flew out of Missoula Wednesday morning and should be arriving in Fort McMurray in the next couple days. While they don’t know what their jobs will be, Canadian firefighters are welcoming the help.
“We have good weather, like the last few days, and now we can put the firefighter on the fire, they can hold the fire and have a good impact on it,” said Eloise Richard, Canadian Fire Public Information Officer. The decision to bring in extra manpower was made last week, after flames closed in on oilsands sites, forcing mandatory evacuations of 19 facilities north of Fort McMurray
“Nonetheless, roughly 150 to 200 firefighters are in that community, that are keeping an eye out for ember spread should that move into that community and we’re told so far so good,” Rachel Notley, Alberta Premier.
While the threat to homes and lives is gone, with no significant rain expected in the near future, fighting the fire is going to be tough.
“The fire is not contained. They like to work on it, and they have a good impact, but it is a large fire so they will need a lot of help,” said Eloise.