After ballooning to 85-thousand hectares, growth of the Fort McMurray wildfire slowed down Thursday. It continues to grow to the southeast, but that’s away from town. By the end of last night, Premier Rachel Notley says 8-thousand people in oil and camps north of the city should have been evacuated down south by air.
RCMP have started convoys for the remaining evacuees that are north of the city and who will travel on the ground. Officers say groups of 50 cars will drive through the city of Fort McMurray down Highway 63 today with police escorts. Mounties will release the convoy 20 kilometres south of the oil city and the next convoy will begin.