[GoghGoner]

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/05/17/officials-investigating-reports-of-an-explosion-in-fort-mcmurray

The wildfire that razed thousands of buildings in Fort McMurray two weeks ago showed how unrelenting and unpredictable it is as it encroached on oil and gas facilities to the north, destroying one work camp and again forcing production to shut down.

There was also further destruction in the city itself with an explosion in a house in the Dickinsfield area Monday night, damaging seven homes. A fire in a fourplex in south Thickwood damaged three condominium units. The causes are unknown. Both are under investigation.

“It highlights again the uncertainty of the challenges with re-entry planning and re-establishing essential services,” said Scott Long, executive director of Alberta Emergency Management Agency.

[Cid_Yama]

Firefighters were preparing to tackle hot weather and gusting winds on Wednesday as they battled a massive wildfire raging near Fort McMurray, Alberta, that threatens oil sands facilities and work camps north of the city.

Winds forecast for Wednesday were expected to push the uncontrolled blaze further east, putting oil operations in its path, officials said. The 355,000-hectare (877,224-acre) fire was also stretching toward the Saskatchewan border.

link

[Cid_Yama]

Wind, low humidity, help northern Alberta wildfire make big one-day jump

There has been a dramatic increase in the size of a northern Alberta wildfire that has already destroyed hundreds of structures in Fort McMurray and is now licking close to the boundary with Saskatchewan.

An overnight report from Alberta Sustainable Resource Development says the blaze has now covered more than 4,200 square kilometres.

Saskatchewan authorities say the fire is now about five kilometres or less from the provincial boundary and will likely keep burning that way, although the nearest community is about 40 kilometres away.

The wildfire has now breached a critical firebreak, threatening Canada’s largest oil production facilities.

As of Wednesday, the fire is still 0% contained, the Alberta Agriculture and Forestry department said.

link

[kiwichick]

that is fu%#ing crazy leaving workers in the path of a fire like this

this is risking lives

[dohboi]

I have a sneaking feeling that the health and welfare of the average worker is not exactly the top priority of those who run these companies and extract enormous wealth from them.

Compare:

Both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal announced Thursday they were cutting more than 460 jobs, or about 15 percent of the workforce at the North Antelope Rochelle and Black Thunder Mines in northeast Wyoming.

"It's just devastating for a community," Wright Economic Development coordinator Brandi Harlow said. "We're such a small, tight-knit community. Everybody in Wright is touched by coal mine jobs."

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_2 ... st-wyoming

Do you think the CEO and other high-paid top officials ever even considered taking some cuts in their 'compensation package' so that these folks could be given support and training to transition into new jobs?

[Tanada]

I have a sneaking feeling that the health and welfare of the average worker is not exactly the top priority of those who run these companies and extract enormous wealth from them.

Compare:

Both Peabody Energy and Arch Coal announced Thursday they were cutting more than 460 jobs, or about 15 percent of the workforce at the North Antelope Rochelle and Black Thunder Mines in northeast Wyoming.

"It's just devastating for a community," Wright Economic Development coordinator Brandi Harlow said. "We're such a small, tight-knit community. Everybody in Wright is touched by coal mine jobs."

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_2 ... st-wyoming

Do you think the CEO and other high-paid top officials ever even considered taking some cuts in their 'compensation package' so that these folks could be given support and training to transition into new jobs?

Shouldn't that be the responsibility of the people making those jobs unavailable? Namely the US Government? The tax system is oriented in such a way that it encourages mechanization for "efficiency" through huge tax write offs. Coal companies that switch from underground mining to surface mining are rewarded by huge tax incentives, and the lower labor costs make it twice as attractive. Why is your government encouraging employers to permanently remove jobs from the economy? Even in a growing system, which we all know is limited on a finite world, removing jobs across the spectrum makes it harder and harder to retrain workers for other jobs because the total number is static and the population is growing faster than new businesses are appearing.

[dohboi]

You're right of course.

Under our system of socialism for the wealthy, it is the corporate elites responsibility to take money from everyone and the responsibility of gov (always being undermined by the GOP of course) to come in and try to pick up the pieces.

Silly me for thinking we lived in a fairer society.

[WildRose]

Water quality could be quite an issue for the people of Fort McMurray as they return to the city. As the U of A scientist below states, there is not a lot of research into or experience with the kind of situation Fort McMurray will face, as the surrounding rivers will be contaminated with toxins from the wildfire, and with every rainfall more debris will be flushed into the rivers. The ecology of the river will be affected for a long time, but of course, the main concern here is keeping the water safe for human use.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/ ... -1.3588120

[dohboi]

Wow, I hadn't even thought of that angle of the disaster, WR.

What a sh!t storm!

[Cog]

You're right of course.

Under our system of socialism for the wealthy, it is the corporate elites responsibility to take money from everyone and the responsibility of gov (always being undermined by the GOP of course) to come in and try to pick up the pieces.

Silly me for thinking we lived in a fairer society.

The purpose of a corporation is not to employ people. It is to create profits that benefit stock holders. Yes you are silly to think that a corporation has any other purpose.

[dohboi]

"It is to create profits that benefit stock holders"

Exactly why they need to be abolished, or at least very highly constrained, their contracts to exist to come up for evaluation every year, as was the case at their origin, iirc.

When individuals' profits become more important that the vast majority of workers and homeowners and people and indeed the whole planet, it is time to stop the madness and start to establish truly important things above the wealth of the few.

I'm sure you'll agree with that sentiment, right Cog??

[Subjectivist]

"It is to create profits that benefit stock holders"

Exactly why they need to be abolished, or at least very highly constrained, their contracts to exist to come up for evaluation every year, as was the case at their origin, iirc.

When individuals' profits become more important that the vast majority of workers and homeowners and people and indeed the whole planet, it is time to stop the madness and start to establish truly important things above the wealth of the few.

I'm sure you'll agree with that sentiment, right Cog??

In your opinion dohboi, what is the purpose of government?

[Cog]

"It is to create profits that benefit stock holders"

Exactly why they need to be abolished, or at least very highly constrained, their contracts to exist to come up for evaluation every year, as was the case at their origin, iirc.

When individuals' profits become more important that the vast majority of workers and homeowners and people and indeed the whole planet, it is time to stop the madness and start to establish truly important things above the wealth of the few.

I'm sure you'll agree with that sentiment, right Cog??

I know you are messing with me for a laugh but I am a stockholder in several corporations and I expect the board of directors to deliver profits or get the boot.

[Cog]

If you want charity, then go pan-handle or wait in a soup-kitchen line. A corporation is not the place you seek.

[Lore]

Businesses exists to make a profit while government's exist to provide service. This is why business leaders make poor leaders in government.

Governments don't exist to make money. Governments have no money; they have only what they take from their citizens. And it's only by faith in the government that money has any value at all.

[Timo]

Businesses exists to make a profit while government's exist to provide service. This is why business leaders make poor leaders in government.

Governments don't exist to make money. Governments have no money; they have only what they take from their citizens. And it's only by faith in the government that money has any value at all.

So, let's abolish the government, and money will cease to have any value, thus leading to the demise of all business for profit at the same time. The ensuing chaos will bring harmony to the masses by re-instituting a value-based barter system for goods and services, meaning no one will be able to reap profits on the backs of anyone else. That sounds like a near perfect world to me.

Or, we'll all become slaves to those with guns.

[Lore]

Businesses exists to make a profit while government's exist to provide service. This is why business leaders make poor leaders in government.

Governments don't exist to make money. Governments have no money; they have only what they take from their citizens. And it's only by faith in the government that money has any value at all.

So, let's abolish the government, and money will cease to have any value, thus leading to the demise of all business for profit at the same time. The ensuing chaos will bring harmony to the masses by re-instituting a value-based barter system for goods and services, meaning no one will be able to reap profits on the backs of anyone else. That sounds like a near perfect world to me.

Or, we'll all become slaves to those with guns.

Just replace the perceived value of money. Money by its nature is not an equitable means of exchange. Placing value on the individual would be a better measure of worth.

[dohboi]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatche ... -1.3589287

Fort McMurray wildfire expands into Saskatchewan

The whole thing is now has burned nearly 2000 square miles!

...Saskatchewan experienced a record-setting forest fire season last year and is preparing for something similar this year.

A command team is managing fires from Saskatchewan side. A tanker fleet with eight aircraft is on west side of province.

[Cid_Yama]

The blaze, dubbed "the beast" by firefighters after it entered Fort McMurray two weeks ago, has grown to about 5,000 square kilometres in size, with nearly eight square kilometres stretching over the Saskatchewan boundary.

Alberta senior wildlife manager Chad Morrison said the fire has burned the same amount of forest as all fires consumed in Alberta last year.

[WildRose]

This is Edmonton right now. I was out walking my dog about 3:30 p.m. and the smoke started rolling in. I thought, "This can't be from Fort McMurray!" but it is. Apparently a very sudden shift in the wind has brought us this smoke, and our air quality index quickly went up to 10 (extreme).

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton