EDMONTON —Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first noticed the smell of smoke and then the blackened boreal forest, scarred with black stripes, as he flew above Fort McMurray on Friday, in his first visit since the wildfire breached the northern Alberta city last week.

Dressed in blue jeans and a navy blazer, he spoke of the devastation, and its searing images: for him, it was the child’s scooter, looking sad and forlorn in a burned-out neighbourhood.

“Whatever little boy or girl was using that just before the evacuation,” he said, pausing to look around the room of media assembled in Edmonton. “They’re safe, they’re alive, they’re being sheltered by friends, family, and kind strangers right across the country. We know, yes, this was a terrible disaster to befall this community, and at the same time, there is hope, there is strength and capacity to rebuild a stronger future, to build greater opportunities, the way Canadians always do.”

Trudeau’s day began in Edmonton, shaking the hand of the man who has been the face of the response, Fort McMurray fire chief Darby Allen.

Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley then flew more than 400 km to the city where 80,000 residents were forced to flee last Tuesday.

In a helicopter fly-over with various leaders, he saw a downtown core that was deserted and immobile, and children’s toys left on the front lawns of intact houses.

“Then you go a little further,” he said, extending his hands to the edges of the podium, “and you see devastation, entire blocks of houses, gone, burnt out with nothing but an empty hole where the foundations were.”

Trudeau said he didn’t understand the full scope of the fire until he spoke with a group of 150 first responders during his visit in Fort McMurray.

“(They) detailed just how many interventions were made, at various points — strategic moments that ended up saving neighbhourhoods, and indeed large portions of the community, and that’s the story that Canadians don’t yet understand,” he said in Edmonton.

“They understand there was a terrible fire. The generosity of Canadians is exceptional, as it always is, and the strength and resilience of Albertans was exceptional, as it always was.”

As part of the press conference, Trudeau announced his government is extending employment insurance benefits to three economic regions, including Edmonton, southern Saskatchewan and B.C. The March budget had reduced waiting periods for EI and added weeks of coverage in a dozen parts of the country that were suffering with an economic downturn, but those three regions weren’t affected because of the government funding formula.

“We’re doing this because we’ve heard from the people in these regions,” Trudeau said. “We’ve looked at the numbers. They show that additional help is merited.”

The latest total from Canadian donations to the Red Cross was $86 million, which will be matched by the federal government. Trudeau said there will be “significant federal money “invested in Fort McMurray for rebuilding, but did not yet have a figure. “We’re just beginning to understand the scale and scope of problem, but the federal government will have Albertans’ backs.”

The prime minister also gave reassurances that the government will be there as the oilsands city recovers and rebuilds.

“For many years, Fort McMurray contributed huge amounts to Canada’s well-being, to the growth of our economy. Now this community needs help, and I can guarantee you, Canada will be here for this community.”

The prime minister was presented with his own Fort McMurray fire jacket by fire chief Allen on the tarmac of the Edmonton International Airport prior to a flight to Fort McMurray.

Allen said having the prime minister visit is a morale boost.

“Right now, the residents aren’t there, but there are hundreds and hundreds of emergency workers. I think they’ll get a lift from that,” he said.

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“We’ve been working hard for the last two or three days on this re-entry plan (for residents). We’ve got a few challenges around that.”

Melissa Blake, mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, said it is critical for Trudeau to tour the burned neighbourhoods.

“I’m personally very appreciative that he’s coming in to survey it first hand, because once you see it, you know just how daunting the work will be, but how important it is to make it back to what it was before.”

Alberta MP Kent Hehr, who heads the special committee, said it’s a personal trip for him as well. He said it’s important to go home and show people that the federal government will be there for them in the reconstruction.

“It’s very difficult for me as an Albertan,” said Hehr, who representing a Calgary riding.

“I used to play in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where we had the opportunity to go up and play the Fort McMurray Oil Barons when I was a kid,” he said.

Alberta senior wildfire manager Chad Morrison is getting his second look at the fire. He said crews just couldn’t stop the fire from torching homes, even though they got on it quickly.

“We were throwing everything at it and it wasn’t phasing it. Mother Nature was going to take it and go for a roll.”

The fire is now more than 2,400 square km in size and has moved away from the city. It is expected to burn in forested areas for many more weeks.

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With files from The Canadian Press

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