Workers returning to northern Alberta oilsands site after wildfire evacuation

MEG Energy Corp. says it has started bringing workers back to its Christina Lake oilsands site after evacuating all non-essential personnel last week due to wildfires in northern Alberta.

CEO Darlene Gates said on a conference call Friday that the fire drew so close to the site that at one point flames were “all around” one of the company’s disposal wells.

But she said the company has spent years removing vegetation around its key infrastructure to create natural firebreaks, and in this case, the firebreaks worked.

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Gates says while she expects wildfires to continue burning in the region for a while, MEG would not bring workers back if it wasn’t confident they will be safe.

Other companies including Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. have also had to temporarily evacuate workers this summer as wildfires blazed through the oilsands region of Alberta.

Cooler temperatures and rain forecast for the next few days are expected to assist firefighters still battling difficult conditions in the Western province.

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