3 years after Ft. McMurray fire, 37% of homes ruined rebuilt
The fire was one of the costliest in Canada's history.
Nearly 37 percent of the 2,579 homes destroyed during the historic wildfires that ripped through Fort McMurray, Alberta in May 2016 have been rebuilt, according to Fort McMurray today.
“I recognize that not everybody’s back in their homes yet,” Mayor Don Scott told the publication, days before the third anniversary of the fire.
“The people in the region are facing a lot of different issues. Some are insurance related, some are construction related.”
Scott says he hopes 50 percent of the damaged homes will be liveable by the end of the year.
VIDEO: MOTHER'S FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF ESCAPING THE FIRE
THRID ANNIVERSARY APPROACHES
On May 3, 2016, thousands of Fort McMurray residents were forced to flee as a massive wildfire burned more than 500,000 hectares of land.
The fire sparked on May 1, 2016, and took two days to reach Fort McMurray, forcing about 88,000 residents from their homes. It was one of Canada's largest evacuations and the costliest disaster in Canadian history.
Unseasonably high temperatures and bone-dry terrain, coupled with winds and a lack of snowpack from the previous winter made the fire especially difficult to control. A shift in the wind did eventually send the fire moving slowly away from the city, but as of July 4, 2016, it had burned around 590,000 hectares.
