Fort McMurray embraces plan to bolster wildfire prevention in region

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – Lawmakers in Fort McMurray have approved a plan to help prevent destructive wildfires such as the one that ravaged the community in 2016. The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo council says the five-year mitigation strategy includes a more robust fire prevention program. The plan calls for more tree and brush clearing and for residents to remove any combustible material within 1.5 metres of homes. The fire that roared through the region in May of 2016 forced more than 80,000 people from the area and destroyed almost 2,600 dwellings. A report on the fire released last year said a blizzard of blazing embers blew over fireguards and a river to ignite fires in residential neighbourhoods.