FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. -- Michel Chamberland was sleeping heavily after his night shift as an operator at Syncrude when a friend phoned and woke him up with news of an evacuation.
The 25-year-old says he wasn't sure if it was true, until he opened the door of his Fort McMurray home and saw black smoke and heard the crackling of flames.
He quickly tossed some clothes in a bag, grabbed his wallet and passport and jumped into his pickup truck, where a dash cam recorded his harrowing drive out of the burning city.
The popular video, posted on YouTube, shows orange embers raining down on Chamberland's truck as towering flames with purple peaks line the side of the road.
At one point, a motorcycle zooms by and a line of cars can be seen cutting across a grassy hill to get to the main road.
"Oh my God, I can feel the heat!" Chamberland says in the video, with other parts of his narrative emphasized with curse words.
His truck slowly moves through traffic as about 80,000 residents try to flee the oilsands capital.
"I don't know where to go," Chamberland mutters as police officers wave him south.
He phones his parents and they urge him to keep heading south to their home in Edmonton. He also calls his boss to say he won't be in to work that night.
Chamberland eventually lets out a sigh as the video records blue sky ahead of billowing smoke. But the relief is temporary.
"The house is gonna be gone," he says.
The wildfire Chamberland fled on Tuesday has continued to burn, and although officials haven't updated the damage, they estimated Wednesday that 1,600 structures -- most of them homes -- have burned.
In an interview with The Canadian Press in Edmonton, Chamberland said Thursday that he continued his trip south of Fort McMurray on half a tank of fuel.
He was able to top up at Wandering River before its gas station ran dry. He also filled up a jerry can and drove back to help a friend whose vehicle was on empty and stranded on the side of the road.
Eight hours after leaving his home, Chamberland completed the 435-kilometre trip to Edmonton.
It was a worrisome trip, he recalled.
"I wasn't sure if all this traffic was going to make it out. It was moving pretty darn slow and the flames were just getting bigger."
Yet he's eager to return. He said his company may soon fly him and other essential workers back to spell off others who need a break.
In the meantime, he's licensed his video to raise money for others affected by the fire.
"It's pretty devastating," said Chamberland, who added it's scary to think about what will be left of his hometown.
"It's gonna look different now."
