Residents watch in horror as town in Alberta Canada

May 16, 2011 – SLAVE LAKE, Alta. – Thousands of people were fleeing their homes Sunday evening as strong winds fanned an out-of-control wildfire into a northern Alberta town where hundreds of buildings were destroyed and many roads to safety were blocked. The Town of Slave Lake advised the community of about 7,000 people to protect themselves from the wildfire by heading for parking lots, beaches or large, green open spaces. A general evacuation was underway. “The town is on fire.” Apparently there have been a lot of homes that have burned down,” said RCMP spokeswoman Doris Stapleton. “There’s been no loss of life. There’s been no injuries we’re aware of,” she added. Authorities warned residents to not try to flee on the highways since they were closed. Stapleton said the RCMP have called in all available resources to assist in getting people out. Staff-Sergeant Mike Proctor of Slave Lake RCMP said later “probably 30 per cent of the structures” had been destroyed by the fire. He said when the fire hit the town, it was nine square kilometres in size. Although Proctor said two roads leading out of Slave Lake are closed, residents can get out through the road leading to Athabasca. He said the mandatory evacuation was proceeding “as smoothly as it can go.” Local radio station 92.7 Lake FM reported on its website that its studio in Slave Lake, as well as the city hall and hundreds of buildings had been lost to the flames. Duncan MacDonnell, a spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, said firefighting aircraft cannot fly over Slave Lake because there are wind gusts of up to 100 km/h and the smoke is too thick. –Yahoo News