There are fears that the wildfire
that has devastated the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada could get even
bigger. Already it is said to be covering an area as big as New York City, and
80,000 people have been evacuated.
So far there are no reports of
deaths or injuries, but the blaze is happening in the heart of Canada’s oil
sands country, and there is concern it might reach extraction facilities and
spark a major explosion. More than 1,000 firefighters, using 150 helicopters
and 27 aircraft, have been deployed against the flames.
Probably the deadliest wildfire in
Canadian history was the Matheson Fire of 29 July 1916, which destroyed six
towns in Ontario, and devastated two more, as well as killing more than 220
people. It started when fires deliberately set to clear forest using slash and
burn, got out of control.
Even worse was the fire that devastated
Peshtigo and other lumber towns on the banks of Lake Michigan across the border
in Wisconsin, USA on 8 October 8 1871, killing more than 1,150 people. It began
in the forest surrounding the towns after a long dry spell. For the story, see A Disastrous History of the World. (See
also my posts of 7 and 8 February 2009.)
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