Lot by lot the scene is repeated: homes burned to their foundation and reduced to rubble.
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Authorities have revealed most of Fort McMurray remains intact despite a week of damage caused by wildfires devastating Canada’s oil sands region.
The government has said that the fire will cover up to 200,000 hectares (2,000km sq) by the end of Sunday, 8 May, it is expected to grow further.
Cool weather, with overnight temperatures dropping below zero degrees Celsius (32F), helped firefighters contain the blaze, though forecasts from Environment Canada showed rain was unlikely in the coming days.
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes the city, tweeted a picture of rain falling.
Ms Notley added that it is still not safe for residents to enter the city without an escort. “The Ptarmigan Trailer Park was completely decimated by the fire”.
One report said the blaze had already spilled into neighbouring Saskatchewan but this has not been confirmed.
Wonitowy said he would be needed for three to four days in the almost empty city that previously housed 88,000. “We have a city to rebuild”, Gallant said.
Nearby, 22-year-old Sydney Robinson of Acme, Alberta stood near a trailer she had filled with clothing, water, food and about 20 kennels for animals.
The offer involves sending converted Ilyushin Il-76 transport planes – the kind occasionally leased by the Canadian military – that can dump as much as “42 tons of fire retardant into fire spots”, according to a statement on the web site of Russia’s Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters.
Chris Schwarz/Government of Alberta/Handout via ReutersA member of Wildfire Management Alberta’s Wild Mountain Unit out of Hinton, hoses down hotspots in the Parsons Creek area of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, May 6, 2016.
“The crews are working really hard to make some gains on the fire today”, she said Sunday. “We want to get them to other locations where there are going to be provisions”. “We care about all of you”. The blaze in Fort McMurrary – the biggest among the dozens of existing wildfires in Alberta – has already forced 100,000 people to flee their homes.
In addition to the convoy, authorities expect to continue a mass airlift of evacuees Friday morning after thousands were evacuated the day before, according to the Associated Press.
At the closest evacuation center to the fires, in Lac La Biche, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of Fort McMurray, security was doubled overnight and entry has become more tightly controlled. Non-essential staff have been leaving and efforts to protect the site were underway.
Syncrude Canada, a joint venture controlled by Suncor, shut down its Aurora mine and Mildred Lake operation about 40 kilometers north of the city and has evacuated about 1,200 workers.
Officials say the power grid is damaged and the water undrinkable.
Officials say there is no timeline to return residents to the city, but the Alberta government has begun preliminary planning, though it stresses fighting the fire is still the first priority.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had no immediate plans to visit the region.
Darby Allen says people may be under the impression that most of the city has been levelled, but that’s just not the case.
The front of the fire was moving southeast, away from Fort McMurray toward the neighboring province of Saskatchewan, said wildfire information officer Travis Fairweather, but was not expected to reach the border on Sunday.
Canadian immigration officials are looking into the situation to see if exceptions could be made that would allow them to stay in Canada.
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At the centre, tables were piled with clothes, towels and other items.
