The Financial Post reports in its Thursday edition that cooler temperatures have slowed Alberta's wildfires to the point where hundreds of workers are beginning to return to oil sands plants, drilling rigs and remote camps that were evacuated last weekend as a large blaze forced a halt to 345,000 barrels of daily production. The Post's Meghan Potkins writes, however, that the 62,040-hectare Caribou Lake fire burning at the southern border of the giant Athabasca oil sands deposit -- which threatens about 8 per cent of Alberta's daily oil output -- continues to burn out of control. Canadian Natural Resources confirmed it has commenced start-up activities at its Jackfish 1 thermal plant after electing to shut in 36,500 barrels per day of production on May 31 in response to nearby forest fires. Production remains shut-in at Cenovus Energy's massive Christina Lake play, a suspension that encompasses about 238,000 bbl/d of output and began on May 29. The company said it was not aware of any damage to its infrastructure and that a full restart of operations was expected in the near term. The wildfires have also disrupted power to the region, delaying the start-up of MEG Energy's 70,000 bbl/d Christina Lake thermal project.