Alwaght- A wildfire ripping through Canada's oil sands region looked set to grow rapidly as it entered its second week on Sunday.
The catastrophic Fort McMurray wildfire continued to roar as officials warned it could burn for months. According to Alberta premier Rachel Notley, the fire has grown to nearly 400,000 acres (625 square miles), as of Sunday morning and has destroyed more than 1,600 structures and forced almost 100,000 residents to evacuate.
Chad Morrison of Alberta Wildfire said the fire could continue to burn in forested areas for months. Two deaths have been reported due to the wildfire, Notley said, both in traffic accidents during the evacuation last week.
Winds of up to 60 kph (37 mph) were fanning the flames, but there are chances of rain and cooler temperatures later. The blaze is so massive that smoke is blanketing parts of Saskatchewan where Environment Canada issued air-quality statements for several areas. Smoke was also reported in the U.S., as far south as Iowa. More than 1,110 firefighters, 145 helicopters and 22 air tankers are battling the blazes. Additional firefighters will be deployed in the coming days.
Fort McMurray is the center of Canada's oil sands region. About half of the crude output from the sands, or one million barrels per day, had been taken offline as of Friday, according to some estimates. Alberta has the third-largest proven oil reserves in the world, behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The inferno looks set to become the costliest natural disaster in Canada's history. One analyst estimated insurance losses could exceed C$9 billion ($7 billion).
Canada Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said the economic cost of the wildfire would likely eclipse that of the 2013 Alberta floods, which was in the range of C$6 billion.
Environmentalists say humans are the leading cause of wildfires in Canada. An average of 1,200 wildfires are reported in Alberta each year, and half of those fires are caused by humans, according to the National Fire Database. Lightning is the second-leading cause with 47 per cent.
Officials were still investigating the cause of the latest fire, which remained out of control on Wednesday as it raged around Fort McMurray, a city of about 80,000 people located 435 kilometers northeast of Edmonton.
