The "catastrophic" wildfire that has destroyed 1,600 homes and buildings in Fort McMurray, Alta., has now consumed more than 10,000 hectares, and is expected to rage out of control into the evening.
At an update Wednesday afternoon, Alberta Minister of Municipal Affairs Danielle Larivee announced a province-wide state of emergency has been declared, a move that puts the battle against the fire, and the subsequent recovery efforts, in the hands of the government.
Late Wednesday afternoon, officials said the fire continues to burn out of control and continues to threaten parts of the city. They said the next few hours will be critical.
"We need to get through the day here, until we get to about seven or eight o'clock at night, and we'll have a better indication of where things stand," said Chad Morrison, the province's senior manager of wildfire prevention. "If we can get through tonight, I think we'll have a day tomorrow where we might have continued success."
During the day, the fire moved east and threatened areas near the airport, which is southeast of the city.
At 6:45 p.m. MT, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said the CanWest Propane building, down the road from the airport, was on fire.
CanWest Propane
(Google)
The emergency response centre itself was evacuated at midday from a fire station in that area to the community of Anzac, south of the city. Later in the day, the region reported some success, saying on Twitter that "firefighting efforts to save the water treatment plant have been successful!"
Earlier in the day, fire Chief Darby Allen spoke of the fire almost as if it were a living thing. He said by 6 a.m. MT all structure fires in the city had been extinguished, but crews continued to battle the monster fire on several fronts.
He said neighbourhoods that escaped the flames Tuesday were still be in grave danger.
  • An evacuee puts gas in his car on his way out of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Wednesday.
  • An evacuee puts gas in his car on his way out of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Wednesday. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)
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