Fire, fire everywhere

     In the immediate area, there are 4 fires, 3 of which are out of control. The first picture on the right was taken from our parking lot. I can see this plume of smoke from my window. Last night, the smoke was barely visible on the horizon. The 2nd picture was taken on the access road off the main highway from Ft. Mac. It doesn't really show it, but that is the biggest fire, the one that is threatening the CNRL site. Conditions have not changed, except the wind has died down, which is good, but no rain and still warm. Last night the power went out here for about 6 hours. Diesel generators kicked in within the minute, but it meant no air conditioning, then all the breakers for ALL 75 laundry rooms had to be re-set, and all the 300+ furnaces (for the a/c) We still have not been called on to take any evacuees, although we are still on alert because the threat has definitely not passed yet. If anyone has seen the pictures of Slave Lake, that community has been decimated. I've heard in all there are over 100 fires burning in Alberta right now. The air quality is poor, of course, and some of the smaller communities have closed day cares and senior homes and moved the people in to Ft. Mac until the air clears. We looked at the area from a satellite map this morning, and it's scary to see how large the fires are, and how close they are. There are big mines all around us, which mean no trees. The tree line around the actual camp is not very wide, and apparently Shell says with the equipment they have, they can take all the trees out around us (for a complete fire break) without 2 hours. I heard from my friend Lena, she is at a camp about 60 or so km from here, and she said they have been taking in evacuees from other camps, and that the fire has jumped the river near them. I haven't heard of any other evacuations yet. We drove into town tonight (just to get out) and yesterday, where fire and lots of smoke were visible from the highway, it was clear. You could see how the fire raged quickly through though, as the tops and trunks of the tall trees were scorched and black, but the lower, new growth was basically untouched. Nasty smell though. Sure didn't smell like a nice bonfire! Will update with any new developments.