BEVS

Horrendous . Utterly terrible for all concerned.

Pollyana

Writing a brief on it this morning at work and wondering whether we will be sending resources over to assist. Bear in mind I work with Aussie firefighters, who are accustomed to fast moving wildfires but even they were stunned at the speed and ferocity of this particular one.

JamesM

Yup. A friend on Facebook that worked at the local pub a while ago posted a picture of the fire in the background after the mandatory evacuation was ordered.

Looked terrifying.

I think most people are bunked down in Edmonton.

Her house was burned down. I wouldn't know where to start if all my stuff was wiped out.

magnumpi

My neighbours brother grabbed his motorcycle and took off up north, he white lined it all the way thru the traffic. He left behind his garage business, when he got to a safe area he looked up his online garage CCTV cams and watched as the garage burned down, until his camera melted !!!

He said the road ends where he is, if the fire goes north then that's it, no more road !!! Oh gee !!

ann m

There were hundreds of homes up for sale in the city due to the economic downturn, with no takers. For all the homes still standing, I see a great match in the future for those in need of homes/rentals.

bats

The house might be insured but not the contents and even if they are they are probably underinsured

scrubbedexpat091

Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation have all been given evacuation orders and buses being used to get people out, these appear to be south of Fort Mac from CBC article.

The link also has a gif of the webcam at the airport showing what the day was like from 8:41am to 6:41pm, started out sunny with just a slight sight of smoke off in the far distance, by evening smoke so thick barely make out anything.

Fort McMurray cut off as wildfire closes Highway 63 - Edmonton - CBC News

Juggernaut1064

Clouding up and raining a little in Edmonton, lets hope it gets really heavy rain and moves north.

scrubbedexpat091

Hopefully they get a break soon weather wise. 30% chance of rain today but the winds are not good.


CBC was reporting the fire is buring so hot and winds and smoke so bad they cant fight from the air and its too hot on the ground to effectively fight by ground.


Forecast for today doesnt look kind.

Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers this morning then a mix of sun and cloud. Widespread smoke. Wind northwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming light early this morning. Wind becoming northwest 30 gusting to 50 late this morning. High 19. UV index 5 or moderate."

Alan2005

I feel for those people when they go back. Having to rebuild all those historic buildings and malls.

caretaker

Maybe when you get home yours will be burned up too.

Alan2005

You're right. I suppose that as the fire is still burning it is a little too soon to be making inappropriate jokes

Danny B

At the 57 second mark...holy shit. Balls of steel.

He has uploaded a few more videos here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmy...Hpasgzw/videos

Siouxie

Oh wow - I can't imagine having to try to get out of Fort McMurray with the flames so close by. It's so awful.

I was watching videos on CTV's website - they have a ton by people trying to escape - unbelievable.

Extended: Man films dramatic flight from wildfire | CTV News

scrubbedexpat091

I am always amazed how fast pine trees go up in flames.

Those are some intense flames, really becomes total survival mode at that point, the alternative to risking those flames isn't a good one, but madness I would be scared to death.

I've been close to wildfires before, and on alert to leave, but never this close, I cannot imagine what its like for these folks.