Facts about Fort McMurray, the northern Alberta community threatened by fire
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. – A look at Fort McMurray, the northern Alberta community in which several neighbourhoods were under an evacuation notice Tuesday because of a wildfire:
LOCATION: Fort McMurray is 435 kilometres northeast of Edmonton on Highway 63, just west of the Alberta-Saskatchewan boundary.
SIZE: Fort McMurray is the largest community in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. A 2015 municipal census pegged the population of the region at about 125,000. The urban centre of Fort McMurray had just over 61,000 people, according to the 2011 federal census.
ACCESS: Highway 63 is the major route to the Wood Buffalo region. The fire, which started Sunday, jumped the highway Tuesday.
HISTORY: Fort McMurray was once a fur trading post.
TODAY: Fort McMurray is best known now as a hub for the oilsands industry, which is the top employer in the region. The industry has been hit hard by the downturn in the energy sector.
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