Wildfires rip through Canada town

Wildfires fuelled by high winds have blazed through more than a third of a town in Canada’s Alberta province, police say, forcing thousands to flee.

Numerous homes and public buildings were destroyed in Slave Lake, Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee said.

Slave Lake’s 10,000 residents were ordered to leave on Sunday, and more than two-thirds had fled by Monday.

No reports of injuries or fatalities have been reported, according to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

More than 100 wildfires were burning in Alberta as of Monday morning, and roughly 40 of those fires are considered out of control, local media reported.

Fires forced oil companies in Alberta, the country’s third largest energy producing province, to shut off thousands of barrels of output.

There were reportedly 125 firefighters in Slave Lake early on Monday, with an additional 100 firefighters en route.

The Canadian government has deployed 1,000 firefighters, 100 helicopters and 20 water bombers to battle wildfires throughout the entire province.

A total of 206 sq miles (331 sq km) of land had been burned as of Monday morning.

“It’s heart-wrenching as people lose their homes, their livelihood. For myself, I’m just trying to remain focused on the task at hand,” Ms Pillay-Kinnee told the Calgary Herald newspaper.

“It’s truly devastating. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s going to take a while to rebuild our community.”