Wildfire Update from Government of Alberta

Re-entry plans have been announced for residents to return to Fort McMurray and other communities evacuated due to wildfire. A voluntary, phased re-entry for safe return of Fort McMurray residents will begin June 1 if future wildfire conditions do not delay restoration efforts. Re-entry should be completed by June 15, to coincide with full restoration of the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

Safe re-entry can occur only when five critical conditions are met:

Efforts on these conditions has begun and will continue on meeting these five conditions.

Re-entry for those residents who choose to do so, is expected to begin June 1 as long as future wildfire conditions do not delay ongoing restoration efforts.

Re-entry should be complete by June 15, to coincide with full restoration of Northern Lights Regional Health Centre.

The re-entry schedule is:

Zone 1 – Lower Townsite, Anzac, First Nations Communities (June 1)

Zone 2 – Parsons Creek, Stone Creek, Timberlea, Eagle Ridge, Dickensfield (June 2)

Zone 3 – Thickwood, Wood Buffalo (June 3)

Zone 4 – Gregoire, Saprae Creek Estates (June 3)

Zone 4 – Waterways, Abasand, Beacon Hill (June 4)

Residents of homes lost to the fire will have the opportunity to inspect their property and collect any surviving items before cleanup begins. More information on the re-entry plan is available at www.alberta.ca/emergency.cfm#reentry

Today, higher resolution images from multiple angles have been made available through the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. These new images provide a clearer picture of the community to help you determine if your property was lost or damaged.

These images may be hard for some of you to view. Please view with caution, as they show significantly more detail than the images available previously. If you need support, please call Alberta’s 24-hour Mental Health Help Line at 1-877-303-2642.

You can view the images here: http://firemap.rmwb.ca

Public safety remains the number-one priority and conditions are constantly changing, which is why this plan is conditional on ensuring that work to allow residents to return can continue to be done safely and that it’s safe for tens of thousands to return home.

In addition to announcing a conditional time line for an end to the mandatory evacuation order, today it was announced that schools in the Fort McMurray area that closed for the evacuation will not conduct formal classes until September. Parents can enroll their children in the communities where they are evacuated by contacting the local school board.

A telephone town hall is scheduled from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. tonight. Evacuees who have registered their cellphone and emergency contact numbers with the Red Cross will receive a call before 7 p.m.

Residents can continue to receive updates on our website.