Canada says forest fire evacuees face long wait before returning home

Written by Edrian Acla on

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Tyra Abo sits on a cot at a makeshift evacuee center in Lac la Biche, Alberta on May 5, 2016, after fleeing forest fires north of Fort McMurray. Raging wildfires pressed in on the Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray Thursday after more than 80,000 people were forced to flee, abandoning fire-gutted neighborhoods in a chaotic evacuation. No casualties have been reported from the monster blaze, which swept across Alberta's oil sands region driven by strong winds and hot, dry weather. / AFP PHOTO / Cole Burston
Tyra Abo sits on a cot at a makeshift evacuee center in Lac la Biche, Alberta on May 5, 2016, after fleeing forest fires north of Fort McMurray.
Raging wildfires pressed in on the Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray Thursday after more than 80,000 people were forced to flee, abandoning fire-gutted neighborhoods in a chaotic evacuation. No casualties have been reported from the monster blaze, which swept across Alberta’s oil sands region driven by strong winds and hot, dry weather./ AFP PHOTO / 

MONTREAL, Cnada (AFP) — Tens of thousands of people evacuated from the Canadian city of Ft. McMurray because of raging forest fires face a long wait to return home, an official said Thursday.

The damage from the blazes is major and there is no way to predict when evacuees can go home, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said.

“Unfortunately, we do know that it will not be a matter of days,” she told a news conference.

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