Fort McMurray evacuees could return home starting June 1

More than 80,000 displaced FortMcMurrayresidents may be allowed to startreturning to their homes on June 1, as part of a phased re-entry plan presented by the Alberta government on Wednesday.

Premier Rachel Notley outlineddetails at a news conference aboutwhat the province calls "a conditional timeline" for when the population of Alberta'soilsandscapital can begin returning to the city that frightened evacuees fled two weeks ago.

Rachel Notley outlines re-entry plan for Fort McMurray

8 years ago

Duration 1:21

Starting June 1, Fort McMurray residents will be able to return to the city. The re-entry plan is staggered based on the condition of the various communities, and will be updated is conditions change or become less safe.

For a few moments Wednesday, political differences were set aside, whenWildrose Opposition leader Brian Jean who lost his own house to the flames thanked the NDP government for its efforts on behalf of his constituents.

Jean took over the podium for a few minutesand spoke of the anguish and grief shared by the people he represents in the legislature.

"I know that every morning I've been receiving messages from my family," said Jean, who paused briefly, the words caught in his throat, "my friends, and my neighbours. They are tired, stressed, and waiting to hear this news."

The re-entry plan calls for the first residents to return on a voluntary basis on June 1, with the entire population able to return by June 15.

Five conditions must be met

To accomplish that timeline, five conditions will have to be met. Those conditions include:

• That the fireis no longer "an imminent threat" to the city (and air quality is not hazardous).
• That the hospital is open and able to provide basic health services.
• That fire and police departments are operational, and 911 and ambulance service arerestored.
• That all roads are open to traffic and natural gas and electricity have been fully restored.
• That supplies of potable water and food are available, and people have access tobanks and pharmacies.

If those safety benchmarks are met, people may well start rebuildingtheir lives and communitiesby June 1. But the city they return to will look much different from the one they left.

Notley listed items returningresidents shouldbringwith them, includingrefilled prescriptions,food and drinking water for people and pets, portablecoolers(since fridges and freezers may not be usable),rubber boots,flashlights and batteries, anda camera or video camera to document property damage.

Notleyalso told residentsthat Fort McMurray schools will not reopen until September, andsaid all students will be automatically promoted to the next grade.

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"With respect to the re-entry timelines,I can tell you today thatif the five re-entry conditions are met, we anticipate that residents, on a voluntary and phased basis, will be allowed to begin to return to Fort McMurraybeginning onWednesday, June 1, with the return completed byWednesday, June 15,which will coincide with the hospital returning, we believe, to full operations."

Plan for four days in June

The phased re-entry plan will begin in the areas with the least damage, and will happen over four days, so traffic doesn't stall on Highway 63, the only road into the city. The plan lays out four dates:

• June 1,for residents of thelower town site,Anzac, andFirst Nations communities.
• June 2,for residents of north FortMcMurray, includingTimberleaandThickwood.
• June 3,for residents ofsouth FortMcMurray, includingGregoire andSaline Creek.
• June 4,for residents of the hardest hit areas inAbasand, Beacon Hill andSapraeCreek.

"Let me be clear that this re-entry plan is voluntary. It's a matter of allowing those people who wish to return on a voluntary basis to do so in a phased and cautious way.We anticipate that many people will not return as early asJune 1, and we will support them in that decision."

Notleysaid electricity has been restored to most undamaged parts of the city, but work to restore natural gas service has been halted pending an investigation into the cause of a house explosion in theDickinsfieldneighbourhoodon Tuesday. Earlier reports of two separate explosions were incorrect, the premier said.

But the premier had some words of caution of residents anxious to get back home and back to their jobs.

"If conditions change, as they did just this week, the voluntary re-entry may begin later thanJune 1," she said.

Heavy smoke has already set back re-entrypreparations.The air quality index (normally measured on a scale of oneto 10) hit 38 on Tuesday and reached an eye-popping 51 at 8 a.m. Wednesday, but fell to 11 by mid-afternoon.

That poor air qualitystalled work to reopen the hospital.

Boil-water advisory

Officials expected that by June 1, the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre willbe able tooffer primary care, public health, support for home care, some mental health supports, lab services, X-ray and CT imaging, pharmacy and limited types of emergency surgery.

But even then, the hospital will not be equipped to offer acute in-patient care, obstetrics, dialysis, in-patient psychiatry or long-term care, Notley said.Ground and air ambulances will be available to transport urgent cases to Edmonton when needed.

When residents do return home,a boil-water advisory will be in effect until nearthe end of June.

The wildfire, since nicknamed "the Beast," roared into thecity on May 3 and burned entire neighbourhoods, destroying more than 2,400 homes and buildings.

Since then, thousands of displaced people have been living in evacuation centres in Edmonton, Calgary and other cities, or bunking with friends or family.

Last week,the province started handing out pre-loaded debit cards $1,250 for adults and $600 for dependants to help evacuees pay daily expenses as they wait to return to their homes.

The wildfire that wiped out one entire neighbourhood and heavily damaged several others still blankets the region with thick smoke and has in recent days forced more evacuations fromoilsandscamps north of the city.

The fire has spread steadily north and east of FortMcMurrayand now covers more than 423,000 hectares, an area six times the size ofEdmonton.