Canadian wildfire: Evacuees pack up again as blaze approaches

(CNN) — Days after escaping a roaring wildfire in the Canadian city of Fort McMurray, some evacuees are packing up — again.

The inferno, which started Sunday, forced the evacuation of that entire city in northern Alberta.

Residents who outran the flames were forced to flee for a second time as the fire blazed toward their shelter.

Donna Guillamot was one of tens of thousands evacuated from the Fort McMurray area to Anzac this week.

But authorities asked Guillamot and others to move again late Wednesday as weather patterns shifted the blaze toward them.

“I thought it was safe here, so I guess we’ll go to Edmonton,” Guillamot told CNN partner CBC News. “Now you’re sitting here and all you see is red flames. It’s pretty scary.”

Edmonton is nearly 270 miles away.

‘Hug a loved one’

As some evacuees took buses to the next shelter, the encroaching flames forced emergency officials to move their make-shift operations center again.

“We’re evacuating … and heading to Lac La Biche to reset,” the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo tweeted early Thursday.

“Please be patient with updates — just evacuated almost 900 people and drove 2.5 hours, we’re doing the best we can.”

Authorities ordered an evacuation center south of Fort McMurray to move residents as weather patterns shifted the blaze toward them Wednesday night, CBC News reported.

Officials kept residents updated as they worked through the night to ensure fatalities and injuries remain at zero.

“Take comfort tonight knowing that your friends and family are safe,” local officials tweeted. They urged residents to stay safe and “hug a loved one.”

Tens of thousands evacuated

The wildfire has torched at least 1,600 homes, CBC News said.

Walls of fire burned on both sides of Fort McMurray’s major highway, cutting off the city from the rest of Alberta province.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of about 88,000 people Tuesday, including the entire city of Fort McMurray, the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo said.

The cause of the blaze remains unclear.

‘Things are pretty horrible right now’

Paul Spring’s neighborhood went down in flames, but he kept on working.

“The whole subdivision is gone,” the longtime pilot and firefighter said. “Things are pretty horrible right now. We’ve been out flying and surveying the damage.”

He said his team will fly firefighting missions, dropping water and assisting crews on the ground.

“As long as we keep the people safe, we can rebuild the houses,” he said.

Good news

While the dangerous mix of extreme temperatures and bone-dry conditions helped spread the blaze, relief may be on the way.

“Conditions are set to improve over the next couple of days,” CNN meteorologist Judson Jones said.

Temperatures that soared to 32.6 Celsius (90.6 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday will drop to the low 20s C (60s F) on Thursday and Friday — giving firefighters a hand in combating the blaze, Jones said.

“All our efforts to control and contain the fire were challenged by this extreme fire behavior,” Alberta forestry manager Bernie Schmitte said.

“Efforts were also hampered by smoke conditions. Basically fire behavior was beyond all control efforts.”

The main challenge ahead: fierce winds gusting in different directions.

“If it’s constantly changing direction in different ways, it’s hard to control a fire,” Jones said.

About 250 firefighters and 12 helicopters are battling the blaze.

CNN’s Holly Yan, David Williams, Dave Alsup, Amanda Jackson and Justin Lear contributed to this report.