She said Fort McMurray, even in its current circumstances, was preferable to what she had abandoned. They were among the estimated 25,000 people who fled north from Fort McMurray only to be trapped by the fire in work camps. Many of those people were sleeping on cots in a basement classroom, including two other Syrians who arrived in Fort McMurray as refugees. Large numbers of refugees have remained in smaller towns and aboriginal reserves between Edmonton, Calgary and Fort McMurray, like Lac La Biche, Alberta. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyThroughout Friday, wildfire helicopters and other aircraft flew in and out of Lac La Biche, 137 miles south of Fort McMurray.

Source: New York Times May 07, 2016 14:50 UTC