Massive Canada wildfire likely to burn for months

A raging Canadian wildfire that has already prompted the evacuation of 88,000 people and destroyed of Alberta’s oil sands is expected to continue burning for months, Canadian officials said.

The Alberta government said on Saturday the massive blaze in the province will cover more than 2,000 square kilometres by Sunday and continue to grow because of high temperatures, dry conditions and high winds.

Firefighting officials said the inferno, propelled northeast towards neighbouring Saskatchewan by high winds and fuelled by tinder-dry forests, was set to double in size to 300,000 hectares by the end of Saturday.

The fire could reach the edges of the Suncor oil sands facility, about 25km north of Fort McMurray. Non-essential staff have been evacuated and efforts have been made to protect the site.

Chad Morrison of Alberta Wildfires said it was not uncommon to fight such an inferno in forested areas for months.

"In no way is this fire under control," Alberta premier Rachel Notley said.

Officials had hoped to complete the mass evacuation of work camps north of Fort McMurray on Saturday. Thousands of displaced residents got a drive-by view of some of the burned-out neighbourhoods as convoys continued.

No deaths or injuries have been reported since the fire started a week ago but thousands of people have been made homeless since the fire started last Sunday.

Notley said about 12,000 evacuees have been airlifted from oil sands mine air fields over the past two days, and about 7,000 left in highway convoys escorted by police. She said the goal was to complete the evacuation from northern work camps by Sunday.

Chad Morrison, Alberta's manager of wildfire prevention, said it is not uncommon to fight such an inferno in forested areas for months.

There is fear the growing wildfire could double in size and reach a major oil sands mine and even the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan.

Notley, however, said that the facility was highly resilient to forest fires. Oil sands mines are cleared and have no vegetation.

Low humidity, high temperatures nearing 30 degrees Celsius and gusty winds in forests and brush dried out from two months of drought are helping fan the flames.

Environment Canada forecast a 40-percent chance of showers in the area on Sunday and Morrison said cooler conditions were expected Sunday and Monday. 

The mass evacuation has forced as much as a quarter of Canada's oil output offline and is expected to impact a country already hurt by a dramatic fall in the price of oil. The Alberta provincial government has  declared a state of emergency. 

Fort McMurray is surrounded by wilderness in the heart of Canada's oil sands - the third largest reserves of oil in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.

Last May, wildfires led to the evacuation of hundreds of workers from the region.