HORRIFIC VIDEO: Cars Fleeing as Canada Wildfire Advances

Wed May 4, 2016 20:24:11

A fire that forced the evacuation of the Canadian oil sands city of Fort McMurray, Alberta, destroyed 80 percent of the homes in one neighborhood and extensively damaged property in a number of others, and officials warned it could get worse Wednesday.

More than 80,000 residents were ordered to flee as flames moved into the city, destroying whole neighborhoods.

No injuries have been reported. Video filmed from a vehicle driving south of Fort McMurray in between Beacon Hill and Gregoire neighborhoods on Highway 63 showed a motel on fire, smoke-filled skies and a stationary vehicle at the side of the road.

In the video filmed on Tuesday, a woman can be heard saying: "That's the Super 8, the Super 8 hotel. Burnt out. Oh my God. My home."

An overnight update from the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said the Beacon Hill suburb in the south end has suffered the most damage from flames with 80 percent of the homes lost.

A dozen trailers on one street in the neighborhood of Timberlea have gone up in flames, with serious losses are reported in the Abasand and Waterways suburbs.

Some homes have been lost in four other neighborhoods.

Firefighters were working to protect critical infrastructure, including the only bridge across the Athabasca River and Highway 63, the only route to the city from the south.

The blaze had burned since Sunday and seemed on its way to being neutralized Tuesday morning, but it overwhelmed firefighters when winds shifted quickly and drastically in the mid-afternoon to the southwest of the city, AP reported.

S/SH 11

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