Alberta

A mandatory evacuation notice was issued for the whole city of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, Canada on Tuesday after a raging wildfire began spreading uncontrollably The wildfire raged unchecked through the city of Fort McMurray overnight as authorities raced to complete the evacuation of its population of 80,000, fearing that hot, dry winds forecast for Wednesday would further fan the flames. We’re getting out. Fire seems to be crossing Highway 63.

Residents of neighborhoods in the Canadian boomtown of Fort McMurray - considered the gateway to Alberta's oil sands as the Athabasca oil sands are roughly centered around the town - are under mandatory evacuation as a massive wildfire has jumped across Highway 63 and entered the city limits.  Homes have begun to burn in Fort McMurray as residents flee for safety from a blaze that’s doubled in size within a day.  More than 30,000 people have now been ordered to evacuate Fort McMurray communities.

http://globalnews.ca/video/embed/2678381/

Regular readers know that we've covered Alberta's decline at length (refresher here), so there is no need to give much of a backstory other than to say that the situation seems to get worse for the Canadian province as each day passes even as oil has rebounded in the past two months.

Authored by Michael Klare via TomDispatch.com,

Where possible, we try not to beat dead horses but when it comes to the death of the so called “Alberta dream,” it’s rather difficult to ignore the pace at which conditions continue to deteriorate in Canada’s beleaguered oil patch.

We’ve covered Alberta’s demise extensively over the past twelve months, documenting everything from soaring food bank usage to the alarming spike in property crime in Calgary where vacant office space sits collecting dust and condos go unsold even as housing prices soar in British Columbia and Ontario.