After touring Fort McMurray on Monday, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says that about 90 per cent of the city remains intact, including the hospital and all schools.

“I’m told we lost about 2,400 structures,” she said. “We’ve saved over 25,000.”

Although there are many “heartbreaking images,” Notley said the community “has the capacity for people to return to it, to be a home, for people to rebuild their lives.”

Notley said she expects to be able to “provide a schedule for return within two weeks.”

Notley emphasized that there are still “smouldering hotspots,” downed power lines and a lack of services like electricity and water, so the city is not safe for residents. Anyone who tries to drive there will be turned back by police.

Notley said that nearly 90,000 evacuees have registered with the province online and more than 30,000 have settled in the Edmonton area, with 5,000 in Calgary and 2,000 in Lac La Biche. Many others have not indicated their location. She encouraged them to do so online.

‘True Alberta Heroes’

Notley thanked first responders, who she said are “true Alberta heroes.”

CTV News also got a closer look at the city Monday. Some neighbourhoods, including Beacon Hill, are almost completely levelled. There was also extensive damage in the Abasand area. A few structures on the edge of downtown were lost, but the vast majority was saved.

Fort McMurray Fire Chief Darby Allen told reporters on the bus tour that firefighters “gave it their all” and that he believes much more of the town would have been lost without their heroic efforts.

"I truly believe nothing else could have been done that wasn't done to protect the people and the structures within our city," he later told reporters. "They're rewriting their formulas on how fires behave based on this fire."

Allen told the story of one firefighter who lost the battle against his own home. “Instead of dropping his nozzle,” Allen said, he continued working for 22 hours straight.

Fire still growing

Chad Morrison, a provincial wildfire officer, said Monday evening that the fire that started just over a week ago has now grown to 200,000 hectares (2,000 square kilometres) and continues to burn about 30 kilometres from the Saskatchewan border.

However, Morrison said that firefighters “continue to hold the line,” protecting all populated areas, including Gregoire Lake Estates, Fort McMurray First Nation, Anzac and the city.

He also said cooler temperatures expected on Tuesday and Wednesday should help. “We expect good firefighting days ahead,” he said.

Earlier in the day, information officer Matthew Anderson told CTV’s Canada AM that the fire could take months to fully extinguish.

Anderson later told CTV News Channel that the fire is still listed as “out of control” and is expected to keep growing.

“However, the rate of growth is greatly reduced based on this downturn in the weather we’re having,” he said.

So far, two deaths have been linked to the fire. Emily Ryan, 15, and her stepmother's nephew, Aaron Hodgson, died last Wednesday in a vehicle crash while fleeing.

Economic impact

Premier Notley said the fire “will have economic effects in our province and on our national economy.”

Oil companies including Syncrude and Suncor have suspended operations, causing Alberta’s oil production to drop by half.

Notley is set to meet with industry leaders on Tuesday to discuss a plan to get production back on track.

With files from The Canadian Press