'The safety of our people and protection of our assets remain our top priorities'
Several major oil and gas companies have evacuated their workers just in time, as wildfires in Alberta have destroyed a number of structures in the province.
According to CTV News, at least 27 structures in Chipewyan Lake have likely been razed. These include critical facilities such as a health centre and a water treatment plant.
Three employers have confirmed moving their personnel to safety as the wildfire continues to pose a threat.
Cenovus Energy reports that, “as a precaution,” only essential staff remain at its Christina Lake oil sands site, where the company began curtailing production on May 29.
"Cenovus is closely monitoring the overall wildfire situation in Alberta," the company says in a news release. "The company is grateful for the efforts of its teams who are working tirelessly to keep the company’s people and assets safe, and for the provincial emergency management teams and firefighters keeping communities safe."
Cenovus added that operations will resume “as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Here’s how to keep outside employees safe during wildfire season.
MEG Energy has also evacuated all non-essential personnel from its Christina Lake Regional Project (CLRP) production facilities. The wildfire caused an outage to third-party power line infrastructure connecting CLRP to Alberta’s electric grid, prompting MEG to safely disconnect from the grid, according to the company.
"The safety of our people and protection of our assets remain our top priorities, and there is no immediate risk to either," says Darlene Gates, president and CEO of MEG Energy. "We are working closely with authorities and coordinating with our industry peers to support each other and resume normal operations. I want to thank Alberta's emergency responders for their efforts in battling the fires and wish them continued safety."
Over the weekend, Canadian Natural Resources Limited also evacuated workers from its Jackfish 1 thermal in situ operations, reports CTV News.
Wildfire still out of control
Derrick Forsythe, an information officer with Alberta Wildfire, notes that a wildfire burning out of control in the Lac La Biche area is affecting all three companies.
"That fire is still burning pretty good, and it’s about 61,000 hectares," says Forsythe in the CTV News report pubslihed on Monday.
“We’re still working to get the perimeter around it to close it in. We’re not there yet.”
Previously, the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) called on governments to invest in respiratory protection for firefighters battling wildfires.
“We unfortunately bury too many firefighters because of the diseases they acquire from exposures on the fire ground," said Neil McMillan, the director of science and research for the Occupational Health, Safety and Medicine Division of the IAFF, in a 2023 CBC report. "We can't put the genie back in the bottle when those exposures happen.”
In 2024, firefighters dealing with wildfires in British Columbia warned that many seasoned workers are firefighters burnt out, while newer ones take their place, and that increases the safety risk to everyone.
