Newfoundlanders and Labradorians desperately flee Fort McMurray wildfires

Newfoundlandand Labradorexpats living in Fort McMurray, Alb.have taken to social media to plea for help in the wake of evacuations following intense wildfires surrounding the city.

• Fort McMurray wildfire forces mandatory evacuations of 3 more neighbourhoods

AdamDuBourdieuofKippens, who wasvisitingfamilyinFortMcMurray, fled the city Tuesday afternoonafter more evacuation notices were sent out.He told CBCthe fire was about a kilometre away from where he was staying when theypacked up and left.

"The kids were screaming as we were leaving, but we calmed them down," he said.

"The fire's so bad that it has crossed the river, which is a major river running north, and it's hitseveral parts of FortMcMurray," he told CBC on Tuesday.

"There's a huge plume of black smoke from the northern part of the city, and a stream of cars that are evacuating en masse. It's the second time we've evacuated and this time it seems like everybody is leaving the city."

Calls for help

One woman named Jenine,who describes herself as "Newfoundland born,"took to Twitter to beg forhelp getting out of Fort McMurray'sAbasand neighbourhood, before finally saying they had to leave their vehicle and belongings to leavethe city with neighbours.

Fears of lost homes

Julie Lodge of Catalina, who also livesin the Abasand area ofFort McMurray, was posting to Facebook while gridlocked in traffic with thousands of others trying to get far away from the flames.

"What a sickening feeling," she wrote. "My homelooks like it's about to go down in flames. Never seen anything like this before."

Labradorians Jenni-Rose Campbell and Craig Montague were also leaving the city on Tuesday, and shared the following video with CBC.

Several people were also on Twitter and Facebook expressing concern for loved ones living in Fort McMurray who had lost their properties or were trying to get to safety.

More updates

Follow CBC Edmonton for overnight updatesandfollow@TerryReithCBCand@briarstewarton Twitter, who are covering this story as it develops.

CBC Newfoundland and Labrador will have more coverage Wednesday on all platformsregarding people from this province.