After touring Fort McMurray on Monday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says that about 90 per cent of the city remains intact, including the hospital and all schools.

“I’m told we lost about 2,400 structures,” she said. “We’ve saved over 25,000.”

Although there are many “heartbreaking images,” Notley said the community “has the capacity for people to return to it, to be a home, for people to rebuild their lives.”

Notley said she expects to be able to “provide a schedule for return within two weeks.”
Notley emphasized that there are still “smouldering hotspots,” downed power lines and a lack of services like electricity and water, so the city is not safe for residents. Anyone who tries to drive there will be turned back by police.

Fire still growing

Chad Morrison, a provincial wildfire officer, said Monday evening that the fire that started just over a week ago has now grown to 200,000 hectares (2,000 square kilometres) and continues to burn about 30 kilometres from the Saskatchewan border.

However, Morrison said that firefighters “continue to hold the line,” protecting all populated areas, including Gregoire Lake Estates, Fort McMurray First Nation, Anzac and the city.

He also said cooler temperatures expected on Tuesday and Wednesday should help. “We expect good firefighting days ahead,” he said.
Earlier in the day, information officer Matthew Anderson told CTV’s Canada AM that the fire could take months to fully extinguish.

Anderson later told CTV News Channel that the fire is still listed as “out of control” and is expected to keep growing.
“However, the rate of growth is greatly reduced based on this downturn in the weather we’re having,” he said.

So far, two deaths have been linked to the fire. Emily Ryan, 15, and her stepmother's nephew, Aaron Hodgson, died last Wednesday in a vehicle crash while fleeing.