Residents fleeing Fort McMurray described a hellish scene as the entire city was ordered to evacuate after being engulfed by a raging wildfire.

Thousands of people were forced from their homes Tuesday in the northern oilsands city about 450 km north of Edmonton as flames from a fire that had been burning in the area were fanned by unpredictable winds and raced into town.

Brian Jean, leader of Alberta’s Wildrose party, the official Opposition, said late Tuesday night that much of downtown Fort McMurray was being destroyed by the fire.

Jean, who is also the member of the legislature for the area, said flames were encroaching on the city centre and the city’s evacuated hospital was on fire.

“Our hospital is on fire, where my children were born,” a sombre Jean told The Canadian Press in an interview. “My home of the last 10 years and the home I had for 15 years before that are both destroyed.

“I’m just hoping that the home I grew up in isn’t, but I’m afraid it probably is.”

He said businesses that have been in his family for three generations have been destroyed.

“It is a devastating impact but I’m hoping that we’ve had no loss of life,” he said.

“Nobody can go anywhere and the flames have already gone over the side of the road into other neighbourhoods,” said Maryanne Sexsmith-Segato, calling from her car which was trapped in standstill traffic while trying to evacuate.

“Ask anybody and everybody to pray for us,” she said, sobbing. “We just crawled over curbs; we’re on sidewalks trying to get out of this town.”

The fire worsened dramatically in a matter of hours Tuesday, leaving many residents with little notice to flee.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the province was doing all it could to ensure everyone’s safety and stressed the importance of following evacuation instructions.

“As frustrating and as scary as it is to leave your home, it’s not as frustrating and scary as to find that you’re trapped,” Notley said in a late-afternoon update.

Pillars of fire and billowing black smoke filled the sky, raining ashes on residents below.

“We’re sure our house is going to be 100 per cent burned down because the flames are all coming from that area,” said Sexsmith-Segato. “People are in a full panic mode trying to get out.”

The blaze began on the weekend, but firefighting crews appeared to be making progress controlling it until Tuesday when the situation worsened dramatically — and quickly.

“Don’t get into a false sense of security,” fire chief Darby Allen said during a media briefing before things worsened. “We are in for a rough day.”

By mid-afternoon people from three neighbourhoods in the city were told to leave immediately.

Local contractor Trevor Norris drove into town Tuesday morning to work after hearing reports that the fire was under control.

The 25-year-old said he was waiting at an intersection when police “screamed” in and blocked it off, telling everyone to evacuate.

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“I was watching trees on the left side of the road go up in flames. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said.

According to Norris, roads out the city were so jammed it took him almost two hours to drive what’s usually a 10-minute trip.

He described a scene with all four lanes of the highway driving south, packed with people trying to escape the flames.

“There’s people I’m watching go past me on the road and they’ve got whatever belongings they could throw into the back of their truck with their kids and their dog hanging out the window,” he said.

Jordan Stuffco, a lawyer who works in the city, said moments after leaving court he found himself surrounded by swirling sparks and flames licking the road.

He said it got so hot at one point he worried his vehicle would be engulfed and that he might die.

“It was absolutely hair-raising, shakingly terrifying,” he said.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which surrounds Fort McMurray, had an overall population of 125,000 in 2015, including a temporary population — many of whom live in work camps — of 43,000.

The wildfire threat ranges from very high to extreme across Alberta where unseasonably hot temperatures and dry conditions have turned the province into a tinder box.

The Alberta government outlawed all open fires except in designated camping sites due to the threat — there were about 30 fires burning in the province.

Crews cut down unburned trees in an attempt to starve the fire of fuel while aircraft dropped carpets of fire retardant and water.

Forestry spokesman Bruce Mayer said to expect a “more intense burning day” Wednesday as a cold front was expected to come through the region, bringing with it winds gusting to 50 km/h.

Late Tuesday evening numerous oil work camps opened their doors and were transformed into evacuation centres to house people fleeing the fire.

With files from The Canadian Press

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