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Cenovus Energy evacuates oil facility as fire nears

June 8th, 2016  |  News

If there’s two things you definitely don’t want brushing up against one another it’s a 90 hectare out of control wildfire and a facility that produces about a million gallons of oil per day.

Luckily all 118 of the staff at the facility were evacuated and there’s been no damage yet according to an update from the company. The fire was spotted on June 7 about one kilometre away from the facility. Well aware of the potential danger, the company immediately shut down production and evacuated employees by bus, car, and helicopter as necessary. No one was hurt.

Thankfully fire experts fought and stopped the fire from getting to the facility and the air quality is being carefully monitored to determine when employees can go back to work.

The wildfire has burned for well over a month with no end in sight yet. It has destroyed about 2,400 buildings, displaced thousands of people, and will reportedly cost insurance companies $3 billion - $5 billion, making it likely to be the costliest natural disaster in Canada’s history.