ATHABASCA, Alta. - Residents of Slave Lake, Alberta who took escorted bus tours of their wildfire-ravaged town today say they understand now why authorities won't let them return to their homes.
One week after a wildfire blazed through the town reducing a third of its buildings to ash and rubble, some 250 people boarded buses to briefly return to the area for a first-hand look at the devastation.
Some of the people who spoke to reporters following the tour said they felt uplifted by how many buildings remained because they said it gave them a base to begin rebuilding.
But they also said firefighters are still extinguishing hot spots, and that it's just too dangerous to live or even retrieve belongings from their homes.
A total of five buses from three different evacuation centres made the trip to Slave Lake today, and another 250 people will be allowed to make the trip Tuesday.
No one was allowed to get out of the bus during the tours.
The decision to allow hundreds of evacuees to briefly return to their devastated neighbourhoods came Sunday night as tensions were running high among the displaced community over when they would be allowed to return to the town.
The province has extended the evacuation order for at least another week on Saturday, saying it would be unsafe for people to return until hot spots are extinguished, and every property has been inspected for possible gas leaks and other damage.
