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The Associated Press FORT MCMURRAY, ALBERTA A steady stream of traf- fic moved into the fire-dam- aged Canadian oil sands city of Fort McMurray on Wednesday as thousands of people who fled a wild- fire at the start of May re- turn to see what's left. The fire destroyed 2,400 structures, or about 10 per- cent of the city, when it ripped through last month, forcing more than 80,000 residents to flee. Officials expect thousands of evac- uees to return to the city Wednesday — the first day of a staged re-entry. Resi- dents in areas that were not damaged have been asked to come first. One of Mike Maloney's first tasks was to mow the messy lawn in front of his home while his wife and three kids cleaned inside. "It's sad to see what did burn," he said. "It's tragic for those people. But I think, all in all, everybody will survive." Pilar Ramirez spent the night sleeping in the back of a truck in Anzac, Alberta about 40 minutes southeast of Fort McMurray. She got to work cleaning as soon as she got into her downtown house, which she shares with co-work- ers at a concrete company. Her reaction when she first opened the door: "Oh, it's so disgusting!" "It smelled terrible, the food. Flies everywhere — and big ones. I said, 'Oh, my God, what happened here?'" People driving in on the only highway into the area found the forest on both sides blackened about half an hour out of town. The devastation is appar- ent from the road just in- side city limits and a strong smell of smoke hangs in the air. Billboards that read "Safe Resilient Together" and "We Are Here. We Are Strong" greeted people as they drove in. A huge Cana- dian flag hung between the extended ladders of two fire trucks parked on a bridge over the road. Bob Couture, director of emergency management for the regional emergency op- eration center, said he ex- pects between 14,000 and 15,000 people to return Wednesday. The Red Cross was prepared to bus in as many as 2,000 residents who don't have their own cars. Returning residents were being warned that it won't be business as usual and to bring with them two weeks worth of food, wa- ter and prescription med- ication as crews continue to work to get basic ser- vices restored. Workers have been laboring to get critical businesses such as banks, grocery stores and pharmacies running again. Supplies of some items may be limited in the beginning and the government said some things may need to be rationed. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was planning to be in Fort McMurray when the first evacuees return. "To the people of Fort McMurray heading home — we will be with you ev- ery step of the way," Cana- dian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. EVACUEES Residentsreturntofire-damagedwesternCanadianoilcity CODIEMCLACHLAN—THECANADIANPRESS Devastation from the wildfire that tore through the city is seen as residents re-enter fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Alberta, on Wednesday. By Qassim Abdul-Zahra The Associated Press CAMP TARIQ, IRAQ The Iraqi military's advance into Fallujah was stalled Wednesday by fierce resis- tance from Islamic State fighters and concerns over protecting tens of thou- sands of civilians still trapped inside the strate- gic city, officials said. With the operation in its second week, convoys of special forces could only inch forward on the dusty southern outskirts of the city as a handful of air- strikes sent up plumes of white smoke above clus- ters of low buildings on the fringes of the city's dense urban terrain. More than 50,000 people are believed to be still in- side Fallujah, and the U.N. estimated that 20,000 of them are children, warning that they face a dire human- itarian situation in addition to the risk of forced recruit- ment by the extremists. In a visit to the front line, Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi noted the slow pace and emphasized the prior- ities of the operation were protecting civilian lives and minimizing Iraqi ca- sualties, but he praised the progress so far as a "re- markable advance." Government troops will "hoist the Iraqi flag in- side Fallujah in the coming few days," vowed al-Abadi, wearing the black fatigues of the counterterrorism force. The operation to free Fal- lujah from the more than two-year grip of the Islamic State was launched May 22, and it involves the Iraqi spe- cial forces, militias consist- ing of mainly Shiite fight- ers, and U.S.-led airstrikes. Retaking the Sunni-ma- jority city 40 miles (65 ki- lometers) west of Baghdad would represent a huge victory for the Iraqi gov- ernment because Fallujah was one of the first major urban areas to fall to the IS extremists in 2014 and has been a bastion of sup- port for militant anti-gov- ernment sentiment in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led in- vasion. In 2004, Fallujah also was the site of some of the bloodiest urban combat be- tween American forces and the IS group's predecessor, al-Qaeda in Iraq. More than 100 U.S. troops died and an- other 1,000 were wounded fighting insurgents in house-to-house battles. "Today's offensive on Fal- lujah is different from the one the Americans fought in 2004," said Brig. Haider al-Obeidi. Unlike the in- surgency that U.S. forces fought in Fallujah and else- where in Iraq, IS fighters are operating like a conven- tional military in addition to carrying out suicide at- tacks and planting hidden bombs. Progress against the IS militants has been slow due to their intense resis- tance and the need to pro- tect the civilians, said army Gen. Jalil al-Sharifi. The prime minister, speaking from the main op- erations room at a sprawl- ing military base just east of the center of Fallujah, said IS was using civilians as human shields, and the government was urging res- idents to leave via safe cor- ridors or stay inside their homes. "The main goal of the military operation now is to reduce civilian and army casualties," al-Abadi said. The fight for Fallujah is expected to be long and hard because IS has had more than two years to dig in and because of the dense urban setting. Once Iraqi forces are in the city center, calling in airstrikes will be- come more difficult due to the many civilians and the proximity of friendly forces, according to the U.S.-led co- alition. 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