The wildfire is Fort McMurray has grown to 566,000 hectares, 4,600 of which is across the Saskatchewan border.
There are more than 2,000 firefighters battling it, including support from other provinces, the U-S and South Africa. They’re doing controlled burns in the region to get rid of flammable debris and trying to limit any potential future flareups.
Work is still on track to have residents start returning on June 1st, but their homes have sat empty since the evacuation three weeks ago. They’ve been without utilities, but ATCO says service has been restored to almost all customers whose homes are still standing. A map is available on their website.
Oilsands workers have also begun a phased in re-entry by bus or plane.