Alberta wildfire fighters prepare for hot, dry days ahead

Veren

12/05/2023 16:37

May 12 (Reuters) - An extended period of hot dry weather
that risks worsening wildfires in Alberta began on Friday, with
special weather alerts in place across western Canada and
officials warning people to be vigilant.
    More than 100 wildfires have ignited across Alberta since
last week, forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their
homes and oil and gas producers to shut in at least 319,000
barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), or 3.7% of the
country's production.
    A few days of cooler weather and rain helped firefighters
tackle some blazes. There were 82 fires burning and more than
16,000 evacuees as of Thursday afternoon, and most of the
shuttered oil and gas production had been restored.
    On Friday, Crescent Point Energy  CPG.TO  said it has now
restarted 85% of the 45,000 boepd of production that it shut in
due to the wildfire risk.
    But fire officials expect to see conditions worsen in coming
days. The highest temperatures are expected to hit from Sunday
to Tuesday.
    "Maximum daytime highs will be close to 30 degrees
(centigrade) which would be 10 to 15 degrees above seasonal
values," federal ministry Environment Canada said in a special
weather statement. 
    Around 200 soldiers have been deployed around Alberta to
help fight the fires, and another 100 will be deployed over the
weekend.

 (Reporting by Nia Williams
Editing by Alistair Bell)
 ((nia.williams@thomsonreuters.com; +1 403 531 1624; Reuters
Messaging: nia.williams.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))