The winds also pushed flames toward the local airport, with webcam images showing black smoke engulfing the airport.
Some 1,570 square kilometers (600 square miles) had been devastated since the blaze began almost a week ago and the fire had grown by an additional 50 percent in less than 24 hours, Goodale told a televised news conference.- Firefighting crews have been unable to stop the wildfire, which has charred 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) since it erupted on Sunday and exploded in ferocity.
- Stretches of the highway had been converted into make-shift campgrounds by people in cars, trucks and recreation vehicles, who were fleeing the inferno.
- As flames fanned south, officials also issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation communities located about 50 km south of Fort McMurray.
- Officials on the scene were forced to evacuate their make-shift emergency operations center for the second time in the span of less than a day as the flames spread south.
- As flames fanned south, officials also issued mandatory evacuation orders for the Anzac, Gregoire Lake Estates and Fort McMurray First Nation communities located about 50 km south of Fort McMurray.
- The winds also pushed flames toward the local airport, with webcam images showing black smoke engulfing the airport.
- With a few neighbourhoods already in ruins, worsening fire conditions pushed walls of flames towards thousands of more homes in the northeastern Alberta town, in the heart of Canada's oil sands region.
A massive wildfire that has forced all 88,000 people to flee the western Canadian oil city of Fort McMurray and burned down 1,600 structures is now threatening its airport and communities well south of the town.
The winds also pushed flames toward the local airport, with webcam images showing black smoke engulfing the airport.
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