Following the outbreak of a huge wildfire on Sunday night, all residents of Fort McMurray, Alberta have been forced to flee their homes.
The fire spiralled out of control at an alarming rate, doubling in size overnight Monday. Terrifying scenes were uploaded to Twitter as the entire city of 60,000 piled onto the highway in a bid to escape after official warnings.
Some fled north, while others drove south to Edmonton, 430 kilometres away – with many heartbroken that they had lost all their possessions after being told to leave immediately.
As the fire blazes on and residents ordered to evacuate their homes, social media became abuzz with updates and pictures of the incredible scenes.
@NewsTalk770 25000 ft above Ft Mac pic.twitter.com/QWxSo5ZBQv— wayne christie (@wspchris) May 4, 2016
Fort McMurray hospital being evacuated by bus, with critical patients first. Fire moving downtown. #ymmfire #ymm pic.twitter.com/IsYWQPeC43 — CBC Calgary (@CBCCalgary) May 4, 2016
A pic of what trying to leave Fort McMurray looks like right now pic.twitter.com/ESE7bzPkx1— chester (@ccccrystal__) May 4, 2016
Now a wall of flame along highway 63. #cbc #ymmfire pic.twitter.com/geObPv6wqK — Terry Reith (@TerryReithCBC) May 3, 2016
#ymmfire Us getting out of Beacon Hill! My childhood home and everything I’ve ever known is burnt to the ground. 🙁 pic.twitter.com/eY1KmCVIvi— Holly Ayearst (@hollerslyfe) May 4, 2016
Headed north to safety but this was Abasand hill at 3:45pm when we got out #ymmfire #ymm pic.twitter.com/xqxRNXfJFu — Cheryl MacAulay (@cherylfortmac) May 3, 2016
Startling video of the #ymmfire RT @jstuffcocrimlaw: My harrowing drive evacuating #ymm praying for my friends pic.twitter.com/sNzWKQMyOk— AccuWeather.com (@breakingweather) May 3, 2016
I am at far south end of city. You can see fire all along 63 #ymmfire #cbc. pic.twitter.com/qvQAAJzmAS — Briar Stewart (@briarstewart) May 3, 2016
Thousands evacuated as #wildfire remains out of control in west Canada #FortMcMurray https://t.co/exDJZXwo2M pic.twitter.com/aM5FW5ryGG— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) May 4, 2016
That black smoke is where we were 45 minutes ago. Terrifying. #ymm #ymmfire pic.twitter.com/u3HSHkmqaf — BreannaKarstensSmith (@BreannaCTV) May 4, 2016