(Repeats for wider distribution; no changes to text)
By Liz Hampton, Eric M. Johnson and Ethan Lou
EDMONTON/CALGARY, Alberta, May 24 (Reuters) - (Editor's
Note: Please be advised that the last paragraph contains
language that some readers may find offensive)
Fighting massive forest fires is dangerous and taxing
enough, but those sent into Canada's oil sands are not only
wrestling with one of the worst wildfires in the country's
history. They are doing it surrounded by the volatile, explosive
chemicals and compounds critical to pumping oil from some of the
world's largest reserves.
Now in its third week, the fire's proximity to the billions
of dollars worth of oil equipment, flammable liquids, and
extraction sites had people fearful that the flames, which can
jump as far as more than a kilometer with gusts of wind, could
do catastrophic damage to critical infrastructure.
Dozens of safety workers and industrial firefighters are
working at places like Syncrude and Suncor Energy 's SU.TO
upgrading facilities north of Fort McMurray surrounded by flames
burning to the edges of the oil sands, facing temperatures
running as high as 1,100 Celsius (2,000 Fahrenheit).
The heavy bitumen in the oil sands themselves is not
flammable, but the facilities and people inside are at risk.
"The most harrowing moments were when we first arrived on
scene, dealing with these forest fires growing on you, flames
jumping fifty feet in the air," said Aron Harper, 35, a
firefighter and emergency medical technician employed by Suncor,
who lives in Fort McMurray, Alberta province's main oil hub.
"We were yelling at guys to get out of there because the
thing was growing so fast. I've never seen a fire grow that fast
in my life."
Firefighters do not measure forest fires by temperature, but
by a measure known as "head fire intensity," said Travis
Fairweather, Alberta wildfire information officer. It is
calculated as the rate of heat energy released over time at the
front of the fire, and this fire at times reached five times a
level considered extreme, he said.
Almost half of Alberta's 2,351 firefighters have been
assigned to Fort McMurray and oil companies have drafted
industrial firefighting specialists to protect operations in the
area, where about one million barrels of capacity has been
shuttered. (Graphic:http://tmsnrt.rs/1T6HcrN)
"DOZER BOSS"
These specialists are armed with special foam used to spray
exposed equipment and sprinklers that can cover distances of 150
feet (45.7 m).
In Alberta many facilities are built with protection against
such fires. This includes firebreaks around them, where
vegetation is cleared and replaced with pavement or gravel to
stop the progression of fire.
But with this fire, companies including Enbridge and Suncor
had to enhance their buffer zones by widening firebreaks. Philip
Haggis, a wildfire technologist with the province of Alberta,
found himself driving an all-terrain vehicle over blackened
earth and through smoke-filled forests, leading a small convoy
of bulldozers in containing the fire surrounding them.
Haggis was involved in protecting a Brion Energy Corp
facility northwest of Fort McMurray. He was a "dozer boss" for
the first week of the fire, supervising a team that removes
vegetation - what he calls "fuel" - from the path of the blaze
to prevent its spread.
The fire shifts without warning, and at least one team has
been caught off-guard in a dead end.
"They got overtaken by fire," Haggis said. "They had to get
evacuated and some of their equipment got burned up."
Suncor, one of Canada's largest oil producers, put
additional sprinklers on its sites, a company spokesperson said.
Enbridge Inc ENB.TO , which saw a fire come within just one
kilometer (0.62 mile) of its Cheecham crude oil tank farm, said
it has not yet had to use a foam perimeter at its facilities but
did spray tanks down with water to protect from the fires.
Early last week, after the fire forced the evacuation of
thousands of workers from oil sands sites, Harper was tasked
with securing the perimeter of Suncor's facilities from behind
the wheel of a massive 8-wheeled "ARFF" fire truck (aircraft
rescue and firefighting) with a built-in 3,000-gallon water tank
linked to a water cannon operated by a crew member.
For days they drove up and down a 10 km-stretch of highway
adjacent to the plant, with the fire raging on the other side,
and would beat back encroaching flames to make sure the fire
didn't jump the highway onto Suncor's land.
"The major concern was if it ever jumped the highway.
There's a lot of valuable stuff behind us that you definitely
can't have catch fire," he said.
"The weather, it was so dry, the wood so dry, the wind,
everything was working against us. You think you'd have (the
fire) out and you'd turn your back and you're like, holy shit,
this fire would come right back to life."