VIDEO: Monday was day two of a two-week assignment for 12 Oregon firefighters who responded to help fight the wildfires raging in Alberta, Canada. Wildfires are forcing evacuations across three separate provinces in Canada. According to officials, more than 25,000 people have been evacuated. On Friday, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced it was sending crews to the Canada to help firefighters there fight the blazes. ODF crews will be in Canada for at least 14 days. Alberta saw some rain in the past few days but that could change by the end of the week.
“Right now, things seem to be going fairly well just in terms of progress and fire behavior being fairly moderate. But like I said, by Thursday and Friday, the forecasters up here and fire behavior folks are projecting an increase in activity again,โ said Leo Williamson, with the Oregon Department of Forestry. ODF said its 12 firefighters are spread across four separate wildfires in Alberta. Reuters reported the wildfires burning in Alberta have threatened more than 344,000 barrels of oil sands production, roughly 7% of Canada’s oil production.
