FORT MCMURRAY, ALTA.—Alberta declared a state of emergency as it took sad stock Wednesday of the devastation from wildfires that torched entire neighbourhoods and forced more than 80,000 to flee the oilsands city of Fort McMurray. Fire crews, backed by helicopters and air tankers, braced for renewed incursions from waves of flame menacing the city.

"The situation in Fort McMurray is not stable. It is unstable," Scott Long of Alberta Emergency Management told reporters in a Wednesday afternoon briefing.

"The downtown core is being held through some Herculean efforts of the structural firefighters in the area."

Premier Rachel Notley said about 1,600 buildings, most of them homes, were hit by the fire that leapt over crews late Tuesday afternoon and raced into the city.

“There’s been fairly significant destruction of residences,” said Notley.

She and her officials admitted the outlook remained grim as the fire, which obliterated neighbourhoods to the south and west, moved north.

Notley flew up to survey the situation first-hand, while officials in the evacuation centre had to bolt to the south of the city as flames edged closer.

Notley tweeted pictures of the fire from above. "The view from the air is heartbreaking," she wrote.

"We saw areas where there was a tremendous amount of smoke," she said later at a relief centre for evacuees in Anzac. "We were way up in a helicopter and the plumes of smoke were higher than we were."

Notley said the state of emergency will also ensure that the federal government pays part of the costs of the wildfire.

The blazes effectively cut Fort McMurray in two late Tuesday, forcing about 10,000 north to the safety of oilsands work camps.

The other 70,000 were sent streaming south in a bumper-to-bumper snake line of cars and trucks that stretched beyond the horizon down Highway 63. Some vehicles sat in ditches, the victims of engine trouble or a lack of gas.

The situation took a tragic twist Wednesday when an SUV collided head on with a tractor-trailer on another southern escape road, Highway 881, killing two and shutting down the road in both directions.

The wildfire was still listed out of control as it curled around the city, 435 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

By mid-day Wednesday, the looming flames forced officials to abandon the evacuation command centre near the airport.

Neighbourhoods most affected are Waterways, where 90 per cent of the homes have been lost; Beacon Hill, where 70 per cent of the homes have been lost, and Abasand where half the homes have been lost. More than 30 homes have been lost in Wood Buffalo.

Downtown Fort McMurray remained “mostly unaffected” and all 105 patients and clients in the hospital were safely airlifted to other care centres, said Notley.

The wildfire roared into the southwest corner of the city Tuesday afternoon. It engulfed homes in three subdivisions and destroyed vehicles, gas stations and a motel. Most of the homes in the suburbs of Beacon Hill and Waterways were destroyed.

At Anzac, volunteers served eggs and pancakes to some of the 2,500 people at the recreation centre.

Chantelle Boutin said she was grateful that she and her husband found a safe refuge. The couple brought their two dogs, but one of them died from the stress.

“We lost our house. We lost everything, but we didn’t lose our spirit,” said Boutin.

Robin Smith with the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes the city, said it was believed everyone was out.

“We have RCMP patrols that are regularly looping the neighbourhoods to make sure there’s no one straggling,” said Smith.

Mayor Melissa Blake said her city is strong and remembers Slave Lake, a community devastated by wildfires in 2011.

“We will hope to follow in the shadow of Slave Lake in our perseverance and resolve,” said Blake.

“And as we look to the future, this is still a place of incredible strength, resiliency and vibrancy.”

The province said 255 firefighters were on scene, backed up by 12 helicopters and 17 air tankers. The military has provided rescue helicopters and 15 residents who had been cut off by fire were airlifted to safety, Long said.

The story made headlines worldwide with stunning video footage of trucks and cars next to sheer walls of flame. There were haunting images of scorched trucks and charred homes and telephone poles, burned out from the bottom up, hanging in the wires like little wooden crosses.

From Britain, Queen Elizabeth, in a statement, said “Prince Philip and I were shocked and saddened by the news of the wildfires that are causing such devastation to Fort McMurray.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who have been affected.”

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Fort McMurray fire Chief Darby Allen said early Wednesday there were no buildings on fire, but he expected that to change.

“This is a nasty, dirty fire. There are certainly areas of the city that have not been burned, but this fire will look for them and it will find them and it will want to take them,” he told another briefing in Fort McMurray.

Allen said a cold front was expected to move in later in the day, but that could bring with it a new enemy — lightning.

Fire refugees were recounting tales of narrow escapes.

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Shawn Brett said he was at home when his friends called him and urging him to leave. Brett said when he opened the door of his house, smoke and flames were all around the neighbourhood, so he jumped on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and made his way through a traffic jam out of the city.

“I didn’t have time for nothing. I literally drove through the flames. I had ashes hitting my face and the heat from the fire was that bad,” he said. “Everything was jammed. It was nothing but the biggest chaos I’d ever seen.”

Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, who is member of the legislature for the area, said his home of the last 10 years was destroyed, and he expected his childhood home probably had been as well.

Ontario is sending 100 forest firefighters and 19 support staff to help in Fort McMurray, Premier Kathleen Wynne said Wednesday.

“Our hearts go out to all the people who are affected by the fire that’s raging in Alberta. We hope everyone stays safe,” she told the legislature.

“As in other situations, we are committed to helping out other provinces in times of need.”

Forestry Minister Bill Mauro said the firefighters from bases in northern Ontario will begin arriving out west on Friday but it’s hard to say how quickly they will be deployed.

“Right now we’re in a stable situation” in Ontario given weather and forest conditions so the province can spare the resources to help in Fort McMurray, he added.

RELATED: How to help

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government will provide all possible assistance to Alberta. The prime minister said he had already spoken to Notley to offer his government’s “total support.”

That help ranges from satellite intelligence to help track to the fire to long-term financial help aimed at recovery.

Canada is a country of people who help each other in challenging times, Trudeau told his caucus.

“I’ve been dealing with offers of support and calls from the Atlantic provinces, all the way out to B.C., as people are looking for how they can support their friends and neighbours as people go through this difficult time.”

Trudeau urged people with friends or family in Fort McMurray to make sure they are OK and ask what help they need.

Federal leaders called on Canadians who want to help to donate to the Red Cross.

Notley, who formally requested federal help, said a memorandum of understanding had been signed with National Defence to provide helicopters for search-and-rescue efforts in isolated spots around Fort McMurray as well as transport aircraft to fly in firefighters.

“Our province is strong and we will get through this,” she told a news conference.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale stressed that helping Fort McMurray would be a long-term project. “We’re dealing with people’s emergency needs today but the recovery from this situation is going to take a considerable amount of time.”

Among the other federal assistance he outlined:

Co-ordination and monitoring through the Government Operations Centre

Satellite and geomatics support to help the province track where the fire is moving

Determining what firefighting assets are available across the country

Stockpiling living supplies, cots and bedding in collaboration with the Red Cross

Efforts to restore communication systems following the destruction of cell-phone towers

Disaster financial assistance arrangements, through which the government begins to cost-share the expense of recovery.

Calgary MP and veterans affairs minister Kent Hehr, asked about the cascade of fires and floods to hit Alberta in the past few years, said: “It’s tremendously difficult. We know 57 per cent of national disasters are happening in Alberta. Look it’s a very difficult time, hopefully we learned from those floods and I have every confidence in the provincial government and the prime minister, are going to serve Alberta well in this very difficult time.

“Going through the floods and now these fires it’s a really difficult time and my hope is that to date everyone is safe and will rebuild.”

—with files from Tonda MacCharles and Rob Ferguson

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