Tens of thousands of people have fled the wildfire that has ravaged parts of Fort McMurray, Alta. Here are some of their stories:--
Dustin Shillolo, 29, linked up with a group of friends and rode out of town in a truck.
"We were stuck on the highway and we could see the flames of the forest fire coming toward us. I'm thinking to myself, 'Well, here we are in a back of a truck going nowhere fast.'"
Shillolo said he saw terrified people trying to bike away from the scene. He said his group made it about 10 kilometres south of town before running out of gas.
On Wednesday morning, he was stuck at a staging area waiting to refuel. He said the highway nearby had all four lanes going southbound.
"I must have stayed up till 3, 4 o'clock in the morning last night just standing there watching the headlights, and it didn't stop. For hours, it didn't stop."
Shillolo said he has been amazed by the generosity of the community.
"We've got people coming up to us saying they're getting a can of gas for us, . . . and they're bringing four or five extra cans just for anybody who needs it. And they're buying food, and they're getting kitty litter for people who have cats, they're getting dog food. They're driving up the highway, and anybody they see they're going to stop and give some to."
Shillolo, a labourer living in Fort McMurray, said he believes his home is safe at the moment, but he recognizes that could change at any moment.
"If there's something to go back to, I'll go back. I have enough stuff on me that if I didn't want to go back I guess I wouldn't have to, but I probably would."
Jay Telegdi said he and his roommate were watching smoke from the fire from an overlook on a ridge in the Abasand area of Fort McMurray on Tuesday when they first realized how serious the threat was.
"We saw the flames jump up over the ridge to the other side," said Telegdi. "We saw the fire creeping down the hill, so it was, OK time to go."
He said smoke started rolling into the neighbourhood as they packed up their two cars to leave the area near their home in bumper-to-bumper traffic.
As Telegdi drove he said he noticed clusters of people dragging what possessions they could along the side of the road until some were picked up by passing vehicles.
"You just started seeing abandoned suitcases as people just dropped what they had and hopped into a car or a truck," he said. "Honestly it seemed like the beginning of Dawn of the Dead — sirens, smoke, people running all over the place."
Telegdi said he made it to a friend's place near a river south of the town where he and a couple of others were picked up by a tour helicopter that was circling in the area and taken to the town's airport.
From there he rented a car and made it down Highway 63 to Edmonton where he had previously booked a hotel.
Telegdi, who works in government relations for the local Metis community, said he wonders whether his home survived in what was an area hit hard by the fire.
"I've seen two videos now online of fire 50 feet high on my street," he said.
Hunter Lawrence-Carr, 18, is a high school student from Fort McMurray. When he was in school, he saw students starting to get texts from concerned parents telling them to get moving.
"By the time class ended they're trying to settle everyone down in school and stuff, and I just said I had to go home and had to get my dogs ready, get everything packed up, get ready for my parents to come home and get ready to leave.
"We didn't realize how serious it was until we went out to the parking lot and the sky was orange. You could feel the heat radiating just from the smoke alone. It's still surreal just trying to think about it."
Lawrence-Carr didn't wind up leaving until 9:30 p.m. Tuesday night and said it took a couple of hours to make it out of the city limits. He left the city with his mom and three dogs. He could see flames in the rearview mirror as they drove out of town.
He was en route to Edmonton on Wednesday morning when he talked to The Canadian Press. His stepfather is a supervisor at the municipal wastewater plant, which is deemed an essential service, so he was still in town.
He has been in touch with his close friends and they're safe.
"My main concern, a worry to me was maybe if the fire was to head north towards the camps where they put everyone. I guess you can never tell that stuff, but it's just a worry in the back of my mind that creeped in I guess as you think about all these different scenarios and stuff."
Steve Jenson was at work at a car dealership Tuesday when he first realized the gravity of the situation.
Jenson said the grass had caught fire near the divided highway next to the dealership and flames were clearly visible.
"You could feel the heat on your face as if you had just gotten a sunburn," said Jenson.
Jenson, who lives in the Timberlea subdivision, said once the evacuation order was given it was a matter of making it home to get his dog before trying to head north to get out of town.
He said traffic was so bad it took three hours to move one kilometre — a frustrating journey that was compounded when he stopped at the only gas station open in town.
"The one I went to initially lost power as I was trying to do my transaction," said Jenson. "I had to change vehicles so I left my car and jumped in my truck."
Jenson, a friend and his English Mastiff Darwin, headed north for about 60 kilometres when they realized Highway 63 heading south was open to traffic so their plans changed.
On Wednesday, Jenson was still slowly making his way south toward Edmonton where he will stay with a friend.
"There are hundreds of vehicles abandoned on the side of the highways," he said. "People are out of fuel all over the place."
Chris Evangelista, 30, is a pastor in Fort McMurray who is originally from Toronto. He said it was a beautiful day Tuesday when he woke up and thought the fire was well under control, but later things changed.
"Literally just in ... (the) hour that I was at lunch, things deteriorated really crazily. When I walked out of the building there was a huge cloud of smoke over the east side of downtown.... That was really our first sign."
Evangelista had to be in Edmonton for a conference later this week. He decided to bump up his travel plans and head out on Tuesday.
As he was trying to get on the highway, he saw a wall of flame three to five meters away from him. He shot some video.
"I just couldn't believe it was really happening. It was really only an hour later ... where I was kind of processing things and I realized actually I'd done some pretty crazy, dangerous things just now."
Evangelista said he did not feel fear at the time of shooting the video, though he could feel the heat. "It was only later on when I had a chance to reflect that I was like, 'Wow, that was pretty dangerous.'"
He said it took him about two hours to get out of town.
His house is next to the church where he works and he doesn't know if either building is safe. Evangelista, who spoke to The Canadian Press from a hotel in Edmonton, said he expects the church will have to help people when life returns to normal.
"Everyone's really evaluating. We know there are some neighbourhoods that are pretty much gone, and we know that some of our congregation members are from that neighbourhood. There are definitely people from our congregation that are going to need help, . . . but that might not even be the extent of the damage."
Paul Newman is a resident of the Timberlea subdivision, where he said at least 12 trailers had burned down.
Newman, who works as a surveyor, said Tuesday began as any other with a trip to the local gym to work out.
"When I walked out of the gym is when I noticed the flames and smoke looked a bit more serious, so I started to consider packing a bag," he said. "It was a few hours later after that I was really wishing I had left much earlier because we were stuck in traffic."
Newman said it took at least 90 minutes to get to nearby Highway 63 to begin the trek out of town.
"We honestly weren't sure if we were going to get out of Timberlea because everybody started driving like maniacs. Driving eastbound on the westbound lane . . . driving down sidewalks and a lot of the roads were blocked for emergency vehicles."
Newman said he and a roommate made it to Calgary, where he has family and friends, around 4 a.m. Wednesday.
"We'll wait it out here and hopefully I can return to my home sometime in the next couple of days. Hopefully I still have a job and a lot of people still have jobs and don't lose their homes."
A LOOK AT RESOURCES BEING USED TO FIGHT WILDFIRE IN FORT MCMURRAY
ON THE GROUND
An Alberta emergency wildfire official said there were 100 wildfire firefighters on the scene.
A convoy of 88 structural firefighters from across Alberta arrived at 3 a.m. It included 22 tanker trucks, including specialized foaming trucks.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo website says the Fort McMurray Fire Department has more than 130 firefighters, emergency medical technicians and paramedics.
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IN THE AIR
Ten helicopters and 17 air tankers backing up crews on the ground.
FROM OTTAWA
The federal government said it would provide all possible assistance.
A Hercules air transport plane was flying to CFB Cold Lake from CFB Trenton and three Griffon helicopters were headed to Fort McMurray.
The Alberta government has advised the Department of National Defence of its needs. Helicopters are on hand to rescue people and airlifts are to be provided to move in fire-fighting material and crews.
FROM OTHER PROVINCES
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, which co-ordinates help between provinces, had a request from Alberta for fire crews, a management team and equipment, specifically pumps and hose. A standard hose in Canada is 30 metres long. The request is for 4,000 lengths.
The centre said British Columbia would send 100 pumps and hoses.
Ontario said it would send 100 firefighters and 19 supervisory staff to be deployed Friday.
ATLANTIC CANADIANS WATCHING FORT MCMURRAY WILDFIRES WITH GROWING HORROR
FREDERICTON — The Fort McMurray, Alta., wildfire feels like a local disaster for Atlantic Canadians, who have spent anxious hours waiting for word on family and friends.
Much of the Fort Mac workforce comes from the east coast, and there are few Atlantic Canadians who aren't close to someone who lives there, or have lived there themselves.
"It's just devastating. My stomach is just in knots even thinking about it out there," said Jeremy Douthwright, who worked in Fort McMurray for three years before returning to New Brunswick a year ago to run an auto repair shop.
"I talked to my old roommates that I lived with just about a year ago in Beacon Hill and that house is gone. All of Beacon Hill is gone," he said.
Social media on the East Coast is buzzing with comments from people shocked by the pictures, videos and stories coming out of Alberta as the flames continued to burn.
Others were making contact with loved ones affected by the fire.
"My family there have lost everything. My heart is breaking for everyone there," wrote one woman from Dartmouth, N.S.
It has been said that Fort McMurray is Newfoundland and Labrador's second-largest city, and one columnist suggested Wednesday you could say the same about Cape Breton.
On Wednesday, Premier Randy Ball said from St. John's: "The wildfire that is currently raging in Alberta and those impacted, including the thousands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians living and working there, are foremost in our thoughts today."
"Although these events are taking place in Alberta, the effects are being felt in every community on Prince Edward Island," P.E.I. Premier Wade MacLauchlan said in the legislature.
Added New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant: "Historically, our two provinces have had an important relationship and many New Brunswickers who reside or have family there have been directly impacted by this event. We are concerned for their safety."
Michael de Adder, a freelance editorial cartoonist whose work appears in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and the Toronto Star, said he felt compelled Wednesday to draw a cartoon expressing his feelings.
On a vacation flight to Toronto, he sat next to a couple from Atlantic Canada who were headed to Alberta to help, while the person sitting on the other side of him had family in Fort McMurray.
He said that speaks to the impact of Fort McMurray on the Atlantic provinces.
"I think if you walked into any Tim Hortons in Atlantic Canada, the same thing would be true. There would be people affected closely to what's happening today."
He took out his sketch pad, and by the time he landed, de Adder had drawn two out-stretched arms — one from Fort McMurray and the other from Atlantic Canada — with hands clenched in support.
De Adder sent the cartoon out on Twitter as soon as he landed.
"Fort McMurray has helped us out financially over the years, it's the least we can do to help them out," he said.
For Douthwright, he said it's difficult when you know so many people suffering losses and there's little he can do to help.
He said some of his friends were stuck on the highway for seven hours in an effort to get out of Fort McMurray and to a place they could stay.
"No fuel left anywhere and mass panic as everyone tries to get out. I spoke to one of my friends and she sent me a picture of the Abasand blaze and said her house was gone," he said.
"It's tough because we can't just hop in our vehicles and go help them or give them stuff, but our support and them knowing that we're here for them will help."
INSURERS PREPARE TO ASSESS DAMAGE FROM FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA., WILDFIRE
TORONTO — Insurance providers are already preparing to assess the damage from a massive fire still burning in Fort McMurray, Alta., that has charred homes, cars and other treasured possessions.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada is urging the more than 80,000 residents who have been forced to evacuate the city to contact their insurance providers and keep track of all their expenses.
"Insurers are mobilized and will answer questions," said IBC spokesman Steve Kee.
Home insurance typically provides coverage for the property, the possessions inside and living expenses incurred while unable to stay in the residence, said Rocco Neglia, vice-president of claims at Economical Insurance. Businesses can also purchase insurance that will protect them from any sales or earnings lost if operations are interrupted due to an event like a fire, he said.
Most home insurance coverage should provide people some money for daily living costs until the evacuation order is lifted, even if their residences have not sustained any damage.
Over the past several years, the insurance industry has increasingly had to assess claims from natural disasters like the one tearing through northern Alberta.
In 2011, a wildfire that ravaged Slave Lake, Alta., caused more than $700 million in damage, the IBC said. At the time, the group calculated it to be the second-costliest insured disaster in Canada after the 1998 ice storms in Ontario and Quebec that saw $1.6 billion in payouts.
The Alberta floods of 2013 were even more costly, as insurers doled out $1.8 billion, according to the IBC's 2015 report on Canada's property and casualty insurance industry.
Some changes to insurance offerings can come from such disasters, said Neglia.
Following the Alberta floods, for example, many insurance carriers expanded overland flooding coverage to personal property, he said. Previously, that type of coverage was typically only offered to businesses.
Sometimes, natural disasters can lead to increased premiums for customers to help insurers cover expenses after major disasters.
Intact Financial Corp. (TSX:IFC) reported it paid out about $300 million to customers in Alberta due to storms and the floods in 2013, and analysts have speculated insurance costs are likely to rise as weather-related catastrophes occur more frequently.
The leading cause of insurance claims comes from severe weather damaging properties, and payouts for catastrophic losses have hovered around $1 billion annually for the six years up to and including 2014, the IBC said.
Premiums are based on a number of factors, said Mike Van Elsberg, senior vice-president of claims in Intact's Western division.
"Claims do affect premiums. That's how claims are paid," he said.
"The impact of this situation, what that will do to premiums, it's very early on at this point."
MILITARY CHOPPERS, PLANES JOINING WILDFIRE FIGHT WITH PROMISE OF MORE HELP
OTTAWA — The Canadian military has deployed helicopters and transport planes in response to the raging wildfire that has incinerated parts of Fort McMurray, Alta. — with more support to come as needed.
Four CH-146 Griffon helicopters are en route to perform evacuations in surroundings communities under threat from the raging blaze.
Additionally, a C-130J Hercules has been moved to the nearby military airfield in Cold Lake, with a C-17 Globemaster heavy-lift transport on standby to aid in the movement of firefighters and equipment.
Brig.-Gen. Wayne Eyre, who is in charge of the 3rd Canadian Division and the military commander for Western Canada, calls it a "dynamic" situation and planners are looking ahead at what kind of requests could come next.
He says the Alberta government is expected to formally ask other provinces and northern U.S. states for help in fighting the fire and the air force could play a role in getting crews to where they are needed.
Eyre says the Hercules is suited for landing on remote roads and could be employed getting firefighters into isolated locations.
At the moment, no ground troops — either regular or reserve forces — have been deployed, but Eyre is not ruling it out.
The army deployed up to 2,300 troops in to Alberta in June 2013 to battle severe floods in the western portion of the province, where they cleared debris and built berms to keep the water back in Canmore, High River and Red Deer.
Last year, troops were sent in to Saskatchewan to help battle wildfires.
