Hope none of our Canadian crunchers are caught up in this. I hope they can get it under control soon.

Canadian fire still rages after 7 days

Yep, I saw scenes of that on the news.

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Sounds like cooler temperatures and some light rain are helping the firefighters get a better handle on things.
Best wishes to all who have been affected.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Wow what a week! First we had a fire to the north, then very quickly
every one was caught up in the fear, and the pressing need to do as
much as possible soon enough. We have every one housed, and hopefully
with as little loss of life as possible. We have lost two young girls
to a road accident. When the fire fighters found out about that, they
then made a special effort to save their home so the family would
not be with out the material reminders of their lives. We have had an
outbreak of dysentery in three areas of the province, medical people
are working to limit how far it may get. Canada thanks the world for
all the kind offers of help, Alberta thanks the rest of Canada for
every kindness. We need the help. Lastly Alberta is proud at the unselfish
rush to help shown by all of us not in the fire zone. We tell ourselves
that we are special, this week we have been special. Canada is a tough
country to live in, sometimes it just sort of jumps up and bites you.
Thanks to all of you for your kind concerns and offers of help.
We will get there!

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I have a Calgary friend who has told me some politics are involved and I can't quote him here because it would be moderated. Seriously.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Canada Fort McMurray: Leader says 90% of city survived.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36253444
But seeing all this pictures from there when its looks like a warzone...

Maybe your friend shouldn't listen to them?

Some people always find time to
complain. Now is the time for
helping!

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Maybe your friend shouldn't listen to them?

Some people always find time to
complain. Now is the time for
helping!

+1

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The T1 Trust, PRR T1 Class 4-4-4-4 #5550, 1 of America's First HST's

Some people always find time to
complain. Now is the time for
helping!

I totally agree.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Maybe your friend shouldn't listen to them?

Some people always find time to
complain. Now is the time for
helping!

+1
We had a big forest fire here as well some years ago.
We even got help from Italy and France!

That is a Canadair plane with 2 turboprop engines. I have seen it practicing in Liguria to swoop up water from the sea.
Tullio

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I have a Calgary friend who has told me some politics are involved and I can't quote him here because it would be moderated. Seriously.

No doubt, it gots to be politics.
From 1971 till 2015, 44 years, the Progressive Conservative Party ruled in Alberta, till the NDP (Canadian socialists) won to form a majority government.
There will be no end to the political machinations, and grumbling, for years to come.
For a lot of people Whining is their default setting.
Maybe your friend shouldn't listen to them?

Do people really believe the trees and bushes paid attention to who was in power? Until somebody shows me an untouched photo of an elected Member of Parliament lighting the fire, these articles are unworthy of discussion.

BTW, some of these articles are from the same blogs and e-magazines that blame the current Alberta government for causing the world collapse of oil prices that occurred several months before the party was elected. Logic and serious thinking is clearly lacking.

If you want to find a human link, blame global climate change. Rising temperatures and changing moisture patterns are changing how the fire behave, but the fires have been there since the end of the last ice age, maybe even earlier. Another human change is the spread of cities and towns into what used to wilderness. There have been fires this large in northern Alberta in the past, they just never ran into significant human presence before they burned themselves out.

BTW, if we blame climate change and the spread of urbanization, who carries the most blame: the current party (in for 9 months) or the previous party (in for 41 years before that)?

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