Prayer: Raging Wildfire in Alberta, Canada Could Engulf Entire Town of Fort McMurray

Aimee Herd : May 5, 2016
Lucas Powers - CBC.CA

"...once a fire like this is up and running, the only things that are going to stop it is if the weather changes or if it runs out of fuel to burn up." Mike Flannigan, professor of wildland fire at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

(Fort McMurray, Alberta)—[CBC.CA] The intense wildfire burning through parts of the Alberta town of Fort McMurray is being called a "perfect storm of fire." (Screengrab via CBC News)

According to a CBC report, the blaze has spread to 10,000 hectares (almost 25,000 acres), and has already destroyed over 1,600 structures.
 
Fort McMurray residents have been ordered to evacuate, as they try to decide what items to bring with them in order to save them from the fire.

Mike Wotton, research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service explained how the inferno began. (Screengrab via CBC News)
 
"There was a mild winter and not a lot of meltwater from the mountain snow pack," he said in the CBC report. "Now, a stale air mass has been sitting over Alberta, and it led to very low humidity. Then there was an early, hot spring, and everything got very dry. Then on top of that, it got windy."
 
"You hate to use the ​cliché, but it really was kind of a perfect storm," said Wotton.