wildfire forced the evacuation of all 88,000 people
A massive wildfire that has forced the evacuation of all 88,000 people from Fort McMurray could destroy much of the Canadian city, local officials warn.
A state of emergency has now been declared in the province.
The evacuation was the largest in Alberta's history. So far there have been no reports of injuries.
The blaze broke out south-west of the city on Sunday. Firefighters appeared to have a measure of control by Tuesday until a drastic wind shift overwhelmed them.
"Bad news does not get better with time," said Scott Long, executive director of Alberta's Emergency Management Agency.
"It is a possibility that we may lose a large portion of the town," he added.
Fire services said high winds and hot temperatures would make Wednesday an "even worse day" than Tuesday.
Bernie Schmitte, an official at Alberta's Agriculture and Forestry Ministry, said the "catastrophic fire" had so far "resisted all suppression methods".
After flying over the burning city, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said the blaze had moved north and east across Fort McMurray.
If the winds behaved as predicted, she added, the blaze would move into the Thickwood and Timberlea communities, as well as the area around the airport.
Officials said the size of the blaze was now 7,500 hectares (29 sq miles) and it was being tackled by 100 firefighters. Wednesday would "again create explosive conditions", they said.
Help from the army and air force is being sent to Fort McMurray but may take two days to arrive.
The chief of Fort McMurray's fire department, Darby Allen, said: "It's a nasty, ugly fire and it's not showing any forgiveness."
He said staff had worked through the night and all structural fires within the city were extinguished, but he added that other areas were still at risk.
"This fire will look for them and it will find them, and it will try to take them. And our challenge today is to try to prevent that," he said.
"I'm on the road to Edmonton, after managing to escape Fort McMurray in a hurry. It's chaos here. Everyone has been advised to evacuate immediately. The roads are gridlocked.
The smoke was really overpowering. It was a terrifying experience. I was at work listening to the radio for updates, where they were saying it was contained initially.
Then it spread really rapidly. I drove back to my house and grabbed my passport and some clothes and started driving out of town with a colleague. My family have not moved over yet from the UK.
The thick black smoke was closing in and surrounded the car. People were driving up on paths and grass verges just to get out of there. I'm hoping my rented house is still intact but I just don't know.
The whole region is at risk. It's absolutely catastrophic, but people here are big-hearted. Volunteers on the highway to Edmonton are giving food and water as required."
Ms Notley praised Albertans for helping neighbours in need.
"We will get through this and we will come out stronger on the other side," she said.
Unseasonably high temperatures and strong winds have combined with dry conditions to leave much of Alberta and neighbouring Saskatchewan under an extreme fire risk warning.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would send military aircraft to help if they were needed.
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