Toronto, May 9 (BNA): Cooler weather across Alberta on Monday helped firefighters battle wildfires raging in Canada’s main oil-producing province, but the government said it could take months before all the fires are under control.
Alberta declared a state of emergency on Saturday in response to wildfires that have displaced nearly 30,000 people and prompted energy producers to shut down at least 280,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), more than 3% of Canada’s production.
By Monday afternoon, 98 wildfires were still active, with nearly 30 categorized as out of control, according to Reuters.
Officials said more than 700 firefighters have been deployed and Alberta has requested 1,000 more from other provinces, who are expected to arrive over the next week.
The provincial government has also invited volunteers with firefighting skills to register with the province to help fight fires. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the government wanted to take advantage of the many people across the province with firefighting experience, particularly in Aboriginal communities.
Canada is the fourth largest producer of crude oil in the world, and about 80% of its oil comes from Alberta. The fires mainly affected producers of light oil and natural gas, which stopped operations as a precautionary measure. There have been no reports of injuries or damage to the facilities so far.
WWA