[zeestephen]

I believe that may be the “tar sands” region of Canada.

I’ll guess you can get one heck of a wildfire when the SOIL starts burning, too!

[Lockbox]

Yes a large tar sands operations. I have a friend who was transferred to that area to work on the Shell operation.
Bad news since it’s a remote area.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

From what I understand of the 'oil sands'/'tar sands' mining process, the 'oil sands' run almost like 'seams' in the ground, as coal would. There is little, if any, that does not have 'overburden' atop the seam, so there is little chance of the ground catching fire. If something like that happened, I imagine it might be akin to an underground 'peat bog' fire, burning and smouldering for years unless it was dug up and extimguished.

Here is a diagram from the Imperial Oil (69.6% owned by ExxonMobil) website, detailing the process used at the 'Kearl' site:
Note the shovel digging the oil sand located under the overburden. The 'overburden' is removed and the 'oil sands' are mined and processed.

Historically, the Natives in the area, would use oil sands on the surface or seeping out of the banks of the Athabaska River, to waterproof their canoes. The 'easy stuff' is all gone.