From: brewnoser2@gmail.com   
      
   CBC News Posted: May 23, 2015   
      
      
   Alberta forest fire forces evacuation of oilsands facilities   
      
   Cenovus and CNRL shut down operations as precautionary move   
      
      
   Cenovus Energy and Canadian Natural Resources Limited have evacuated their   
   facilities within the Cold Lake Air Weapons range, close to Alberta's eastern   
   border, due to an out-of-control forest fire in the area.   
      
   "Yesterday, CNRL evacuated their plant facilities in the Primrose area and   
   then, last night at 11 o'clock, we advised Cenovus in Foster Creek that it   
   would be a good precautionary move to evacuate their personnel as well," said    
   Leslie Lozinski,    
   spokeswoman for the province's environmental and resource ministry.   
      
       Plane crashes east of Lac La Biche   
      
   Cenovus evacuated their facilities at Foster Creek because the fire threatened   
   the only road out, which would have made any evacuation of the facility   
   difficult.   
      
   Rhona Delfrari, spokeswoman for the company, said there were approximately   
   1,800 staff on site last night before the evacuation started early Saturday   
   morning. By the afternoon, only a handful of staff were left over to shut down   
   the plant before    
   escaping by helicopter.   
      
   "As far as we know right now, there is no threat from the fire to our   
   facilities, it was more about the road being blocked off from the fire," said   
   Delfrari.   
      
      
   Monitoring the situation   
      
   CNRL's operations in the area are closer to the fire.   
      
   Scott Stauth, the company's vice-president for North American operations said   
   they have shut down "almost all of our operations, but we still have our main   
   facility, which is not in the weapons range, we still have it manned and   
   operating."   
      
   Some staff were moved on Friday night and others followed suit on Saturday.   
      
   Stauth said none of the facilities are directly threatened by the fire at this   
   time but the company is monitoring the situation.   
      
   As for an entire facility being engulfed by flames, Stauth says it's unlikely.   
      
   The facilities are built far from the tree lines, Stauth said. "So we're not   
   anticipating that our facilities would get taken over by flames, just because   
   there's no vegetation anywhere near the facilities."   
      
   http://i.cbc.ca/1.1934040.1381376881!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/de   
   ivatives/16x9_620/li-cenovus-foster620-cp0079.jpg   
      
   Ministry in contact   
      
   Ministry officials are in contact with all companies operating in the area of   
   the fire, but Lozinski could not provide a number on how many facilities could   
   be affected.   
      
   The fire, engulfing 4,000 hectares as of Saturday afternoon, is currently   
   categorized as "out of control" thanks to hot, dry conditions.  It is heading   
   in both a northwest and southerly direction.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)