Losses from the devastating wild fire blazing in western Canada are nearing $1 billion, and will likely set records for the country, insurance industry experts said.
Record-breaking heat, high winds, and dry soil combined to fuel an inferno that forced the evacuation of the Alberta city of Fort McMurray and its population of more than 80,000. The CBC reported Thursday that evacuations were spreading as the fire moved south.
More than 1,600 structures have been destroyed by the fire, mostly homes and office buildings, disaster forecasting experts at Aon Benfield said in a report late Wednesday.
