Meanwhile in Canada..

[kham]

One hell of a mess in Fort McMurray, Alberta

Some scenes from the evacuation. What is amazing, is not a single life was lost.

[PM2K]

Truly terrifying. Amazing no one has died. Once a fire crowns, nothing on earth can stop it unless the weather or wind changes.

From what I hear, the folks may not have a city to come back to, unless something happens to turn things around.

[Mynock]

Really sucks but yea all you can do at that point is gtfo. Amazing nobody got hurt (yet).
You guys know of anything charity related being set up?

[PM2K]

I believe the Red Cross has an appeal going... plus the Canadian govt. is planning to match it dollar for dollar.

[kham]

Canadian Red Cross page set up for this

CBC Edmonton with multiple links

Despite no human losses, the insurance industry might be having a primal scream and want to set themselves on fire; estimates of insured losses not certain, but one figure is around 9 Billion Dollars. And that aint nothing

[kham]

Labatt's are pitching in, with shutting down beer production and producing 200,000 cans of water instead for shipment to the area

Newswire.ca

[Green Heart]

Theres been a huge amount of help from everything in Canada being sent.

Shame the Federal Government seems to be being so passive about this. They actually WAITED for a request to send the military in to help.

[kham]

Looking at the forecast, Duncan, don't be surprised if you smell smoke on Thursday or so from this thing

[PM2K]

Theres been a huge amount of help from everything in Canada being sent.

Shame the Federal Government seems to be being so passive about this. They actually WAITED for a request to send the military in to help.

I believe that is how it works here. I've covered disaster planning exercises on the municipal level, as well as planning, and apparently, a municipality in trouble has to ask the province to ask the feds for help, and it is then they send in military aid. My town has a base just down the road, but if a twister pulverizes us, our neighbours can't help unless they are ordered to by the federal government, and they wait for us to ask first.

[nachtjaeger]

Crazy. Hope the trend of "no lives lost" continues.

Back on September 1, 1894, after a summer drought and high temperatures, a fire started in the slash-filled pine forests of Pine County, Minnesota. According to the history, the fire burned 250,000 acres = 400 square miles = 1,000 square kilometers. But it only took the fire four hours to do it-. Atmospheric conditions turned it into a 2,000 degree Firestorm- hot enough to melt kegs of nails into lumps of iron. Right in the crosshairs was the town of Hinckley, population ~1,400.
I started writing down the legend I heard, but I fact-checked myself, and it was even more epic. The telegraph operator at Hinckley stayed at his post, and never made it out. Not just one train crew, but three made heroic rescues driving their trains into that hellfire to rescue trapped residents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Hinckley_Fire

http://www.amazon.com/Under-Flaming-Sky-Hinckley-Firestorm/dp/006123625X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

Hinckley's residents were a lot luckier than the residents of Peshtigo, Wisconsin. On the night of October 8, 1871 (the same time as the Great Chicago Fire) a similar Firestorm killed over 2,000 people.

http://www.amazon.com/Firestorm-Peshtigo-Deadliest-American-History/dp/0805072934/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=5117QY865UL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR103%2C160_&refRID=13C852NY5AX94DWDND6A