The police-escorted convoy of 1,500
vehicles was due to pass by the southern part of the city but was stopped for
an hour.
Parts of the city in the province of
Alberta have been destroyed after a huge wildfire struck earlier this week.
Officials had
said it would take four days to move all the evacuees.
"We stopped
due to heavy smoke," said Sgt Jack Poitras of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police. "You get flames of 100, 200ft up in the air on both sides of the
road so it's not safe."
Tens of
thousands of people have already left Fort McMurray, as some predictions are
that the fire could double in size by the end of Saturday.
The city is in
the heart of Canada's oil producing country and there are fears that an oil
field could explode.
Twenty minutes south of Fort McMurray,
the road forks into two branches. By noon on Friday, both were ablaze on either
side.
We watched with
the police as the skies filled with grey and black smoke and flames roared into
the air, devouring even the tallest pine trees.
The danger, said
one officer, was "tentacles growing out of the fire", which could end
up looping around and trapping people.
There are no
reports of injuries or deaths but several residents who may have survived the
fire have apparently been spotted in Fort McMurray.
Teams are now
sweeping the city in case any homeless people were left behind.
There is also
concern about oil facilities, particularly near Nexen's Long Lake oil
extraction site.
"We're
looking at a blast area of about 14 kilometres if that plant were to go,"
said Sgt Jack Poitras.
In a statement released on Friday
afternoon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called upon Canadians to donate to
charities assisting relief efforts.
"I would
once again like to thank the many first responders who are working tirelessly,
day and night, to fight this fire," Mr Trudeau said.
"To those
who have lost so much: we are resilient, we are Canadians, and we will make it
through this difficult time, together."
Weather forecasters predict a
40% chance of rain this coming Sunday, which may help to slow the fire's
spread.
More than 1,000
fire fighters and 150 helicopters, 295 pieces of heavy equipment and 27
aircraft tankers have been deployed, according to the Canadian government.
Workers and
equipment are being brought to the area from all across Canada. Officials say
that if more resources are required they may request assistance from the United
States.
But Chad
Morrison, Alberta's manager of wildfire prevention, said that what they really
need is rain.
"We have not seen rain in this area
for the last two months of significance," Mr Morrison said.
Without
rainfall, officials predict that it could be "weeks and weeks" before
the fire is completely out.
Alberta has the
third highest reserves of oil in the world, after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Market watchers
estimate that up to a third of Canada's oil sands output has been taken offline
due to the fire.
The fire now
covers an area larger than New York City.
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