Latest updates on the major wildfires currently burning in Canada
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Thousands of Canadians have been displaced as fires burn in Alberta, B.C. and Manitoba. Here are the latest updates.
Bright red hoses thicker than a thigh snake along the highways near Fort McMurray, studded with cannons that can blast enough water into fire-threatened ditches to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every 90 minutes.
The soakers help protect buildings, homes and vital routes into and out of the Alberta city against wildfire flames that have forced the evacuation of four neighbourhoods. They're just one of the lessons learned after the catastrophic wildfire that scorched the oilsands hub in 2016.
"The system was designed after 2016," said Derek Sommerville, a wildfire specialist with the Alberta company Fire and Flood Emergency Services.
"We can cover large distances. That frees up traditional mobile resources like fire trucks and helicopters to deal with higher priority areas."
The hoses, six kilometres of them, powered by a battery of 600-horsepower pumps, are an example of how Alberta seems better prepared to face such threats than it was eight years ago.
"They're definitely a little better prepared with the notices that came out," said David Warwick, a resident of one of the evacuated neighbourhoods.
Lloyd Sawatzky also believes the province's approach has improved. He came from the community of Slave Lake to help direct traffic and conduct checks in the vacated areas at the request of the new Regional Emergency Operations Centre.
