Through the flames to safety in Alberta

WANDERING RIVER, Alberta - Convoys of evacuees stranded by a wildfire raging unchecked in and around the Canadian oil town of Fort McMurray made their way Friday through the heart of the devastation. They traveled the only highway out of the region, passing through the city's charred ruins.

Wind-whipped flames roaring through heavy timber and brush parched by a spring heat wave have engulfed almost 250,000 acres in western Canada's energy heartland since erupting Sunday.

The blaze, the largest of 40 wildfires burning across Alberta, has forced 88,000 residents, virtually the entire population of Fort McMurray, to flee for safety, and has threatened two oil sands production sites south of the city.

The full extent of property losses in Fort McMurray, about 270 miles north of Edmonton, has yet to be determined. But authorities said 1,600 structures are thought to have been destroyed. One analyst estimated insurance losses could exceed $7 billion.

Earlier in the week, most evacuees headed south by car on Alberta Highway 63, the only land route out of the area, in a slow-moving exodus that left many temporarily stranded on the roadside as they ran out of gas.

‘Reminded us of a war zone'

But other residents who initially sought shelter in oil camps and settlements north of the city found themselves cut off in overcrowded conditions. They were forced Friday to retrace their route back through Fort McMurray on Highway 63 amid fast-spreading flames.

'It reminded us of a war zone,” said Marisa Heath, who spent 36 hours in her truck on the side of the highway with her husband, two dogs, a cat and seven kittens. 'Eerie. All you could see was cement foundations of houses.”

Authorities planned to airlift about 8,000 of the 25,000 evacuees who were initially chased north of Fort McMurray.

'It was scary,” evacuee Sarah Babstock said. 'We came through with clothes over our mouths so we could breathe.”

A third of oil production cut

About one-third of Canada's oil production has been shut by the conflagration, according to a Reuters estimate.

South of Fort McMurray, CNOOC Nexen's Long Lake oil sands facility and Athabasca Oil's Hangingstone project were in danger of being overrun by flames, emergency officials said. Both facilities were evacuated.

BP Plc's Canadian unit has declared a force majeure resulting in the reduction of available Western Canadian Select crude, among other Canadian grades, according to two trading sources familiar with the matter.