More than 6,000 residents of Fort McMurray remain under a mandatory evacuation order Wednesday as an out-of-control wildfire continues to grow, threatening the city.
Four neighborhoods were asked to leave Tuesday, and police can be seen blocking the road and stopping anyone from entering those areas of the city.
Diane Trembley was one of the thousands fleeing Fort McMurray Tuesday in bumper to bumper traffic.
“It’s scary seeing those flames. And the traffic. It just brought back so many memories,” she explained.
Not everyone was asked to leave. Traffic leaving the city Wednesday was very minimal. Outside of the mandatory evacuation zone, the rest of Fort McMurray and surrounding communities in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo remain under an evacuation alert, as smoke fills the air.
“I think this is normal for me, so just be prepared for whatever the city will tell us and going with it,” one local resident told CityNews.
Another adding, “It was a little alarming, yes we were a little panicked, especially with everyone else panicking. But our stuff is ready to go if it comes to it.”
In a press conference Wednesday morning, the regional fire chief says they don’t want any residents who were mandated to evacuate, returning home until it is safe to do so.
“If you are currently under an evacuation order please prepare to remain evacuated until at least Tuesday, May 21. This does not guarantee you will return on that date but would advise you plan to remain evacuated until then,” said Jody Butz, Regional Fire chief in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
Meanwhile, sprinklers are getting set up around Fort McMurray for preventative measures, and helicopters are seen flying overhead with water to drop on top of the blaze.
But for Trembley, she’s not sure this is an experience she can go through again.
“I don’t know if I can live in Fort McMurray again,” she said. “I’m retired so I don’t know. Do I find another place to call home?”