The oilsands hub city of Fort McMurray, Alta., got a watery reprieve from a menacing wildfire Thursday as steady rain fell and water cannons delivered a soaking blast to tinder-dry ditches.
Alberta Wildfire information officer Christie Tucker said the blaze remained out of control 鈥� the only such designated fire in the province 鈥� but it did not grow overnight and remained at about 200 square kilometres in size.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing rain and cooler temperatures in much of the province this week, but unfortunately the northern part of the province is expected to stay drier and warmer,鈥� Tucker told a news conference in Edmonton.
The blaze was still just under six kilometres from the southwest outskirts of the community and less than five kilometres from the main highway south.
The fire forced 6,600 residents in four neighbourhoods to leave their homes Tuesday.
Jody Butz, the region鈥檚 fire chief, said crews hoped to leverage the wetter, cooler weather to get a good grip on the fire.
鈥淲e鈥檙e gracious with Mother Nature鈥檚 kindness,鈥� Butz told reporters.
鈥淲e鈥檒l take as much rain as we can get.鈥�
Butz added, 鈥淪ome of you may be wondering if the rain in the forecast changes the date to return home to evacuated neighbourhoods. That date still remains the same.鈥�
Evacuated residents have been told they may be able to return after the long weekend. The rest of the city 鈥� about 61,000 residents 鈥� and other surrounding subdivisions remained under an evacuation alert.
Not far from most minds in Fort McMurray has been the 2016 wildfire, nicknamed The Beast, that forced out the entire community and torched more than 2,400 homes.
On Thursday, the city鈥檚 court system was temporarily shut down and schools were closed. Some remaining residents said they have food and drinks stored away in case of a longer, larger evacuation.
But grocery stores were open and well stocked, with an abundance of toilet paper.
Restaurants, many of which closed Tuesday, reopened.
鈥淲e closed down for the initial day, just so all of our staff could look after their families,鈥� said Shelby Thompson of Montana鈥檚 BBQ and Bar.
鈥淲e opened the next day,鈥� Thompson said. 鈥淩egular hours.鈥�
At the city鈥檚 Peter Pond Mall, there was initial confusion about Tuesday鈥檚 evacuation order and stores shut their doors, said Shauna Hannam, the mall鈥檚 specialty leasing manager.
Many employees, fearing a repeat of the citywide evacuation eight years ago, 鈥渞ushed to get ahead of the game,鈥� she said.
鈥淔or a lot of people, it was history repeating itself: 鈥業鈥檓 just going to get my family out of here right now.鈥�
鈥淭he next day, when half the city wasn鈥檛 evacuated, that鈥檚 when the confusion set in. People weren鈥檛 sure whether they were going to work.鈥�
Slowly, they are. Hannam said more than half the mall鈥檚 stores were open Thursday.
In Manitoba, about 675 people remained out of the remote northwestern community of Cranberry Portage and the surrounding area.
The province said the fire remained about 1.5 kilometres from the community. And while power and phone service has been restored, there was no official word on when residents might be able to return home.
The Manitoba and federal governments announced Thursday a deal to spend a combined $38.4 million over four years to boost firefighting and prevention.
The money, to be split evenly, is aimed at buying more firefighting equipment, boosting training, and increasing the number of skilled wildland firefighters and other staff.
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