The Fort McMurray fire: How big is it now?

As Fort McMurray residents begin to return, a look at what the fire looks like now—and superimposed over other Canadian and international cities

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Wildfires continue burning in and around Fort McMurray, Alta., Wednesday, May 4, 2016. (Jeff McIntosh/CP)
Wildfires continue burning in and around Fort McMurray, Alta. (Jeff McIntosh/CP)

Most of us have never been to Fort McMurray, and have little context for comprehending the extent of the damage there. Your home town, however, is a point of reference you understand. So, we’ve mapped the burn area of the Fort McMurray fire onto Canadian and international cities. When we started mapping the fire this way, the area of devastation was smaller than most Canadian centres. Now, about a month since the fire first ignited, it would stretch from Calgary to Banff, take out the entire city of London, UK, and engulf Vancouver far beyond Abbotsford and deep across the border.

mcmurray

calgary

Halifax

london

montreal

newyork

ottawa

saskatoon

toronto

vancouver

winnipeg