© RCMP AlbertaDevastation in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
Some 25,000 Canadians that fled north from Fort McMurray are reliving the horror of hastily evacuating through blazing forests, as thousands are now being forced to drive south or take rescue aircraft out. Meanwhile,
the fire may double in size in a day.
The gargantuan fire is currently raging through 101,000 hectares of land, senior wildfire manager Chad Morrison told reporters on Friday. Temperatures are expected to reach 27° Celsius on Saturday, which could double the size of the fire by the end of the day, Morrison added.
There are still thousands of evacuees hiding out in oil sands work camps north of the city that need to be moved as soon as possible, officials warn. Luckily, many of these camps have runways for small aircraft, which have been used to evacuate some 7,000 people already. At least 5,500 more will be airlifted out later on Friday.
A convoy of as many as 1,500 cars has also been trying to escape south to Edmonton via the highway passing through Fort McMurray. The first attempt failed, according to mounted police escorting the vehicles, as the
drivers were faced with 60-meter-high (200ft) walls of flame raging on the sides of the road.
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