(Bloomberg) -- On her frantic escape by car from FortMcMurray, Mary Thomas watched in horror as town landmarks like theSuper 8 hotel and the newly-opened Denny’s restaurant wereswallowed up in a wildfire that’s engulfed the Canadian oiltown.

“I couldn’t control my tears,” said Thomas, 46, who fled theflames with her husband and two children. She was unsure ofthe status of her house as of Wednesday night as parts of theneighborhood had been hit. “It’s so hard to imagine how we’ll moveon.”

Thomas is among the more than 80,000 people who were forced toflee their homes as wildfires tore through her northern Albertacommunity, reducing entire neighborhoods to ash and curbing oilproduction at Suncor Energy Inc. and other companies.

The blaze, which began as a brushfire but quickly overtook thecity, had destroyed more than 1,600 buildings in Fort McMurray byWednesday. Strong winds and unseasonably warm temperaturescontinued to carry it into the evening, threatening othercommunities. The number of displaced grew again as officials issuedmandatory evacuation notices for places where they’d taken cover,such as Anzac, about 40 minutes’ drive southeast of FortMcMurray.

Property values

The former northern Alberta boom town has been grappling with anoil market downturn approaching two years that put thousands ofresidents out of work and caused property values to plummet. Nowthose who’ve lost houses and workplaces are weighing how many willstill call the place home after the fire burns out. With the townevacuated, residents are left to ponder what will be left standingas the fire continues to rage.

“What happens when the community is gone? What happens whenpeople don’t come back?” said Peter Fortna, 36, over a beer andburger at Earl’s restaurant in Edmonton, about a four-hour drivesouth of Fort McMurray. “It’s going to take time to rebuild FortMcMurray and in the mean time, we’re going to become a fly-in,fly-out community. All those camps that were empty are going to befilled.”

‘Shell-shocked’

Originally from Airdrie in southern Alberta, Fortna has lived inFort McMurray since 2008, and was gathering with a group ofevacuees like himself less than 24 hours after the fire forced themout. His townhouse burned down and he said he plans to rebuild,even after his property value fell by more than a third in the oilslump.

“I have lots of friends, though, who couldn’t sell their house,who were down C$150,000, and this is their way out,” said Fortna, aconsultant who does advocacy work for disadvantaged communitiesincluding the Metis.

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Fortna’s friend Salem Alahmad, 29, is one who won’t go back.Born and raised in Fort McMurray, Alahmad also fled to Edmonton. Hesaid the fire accelerated his plans to relocate there, theprovincial capital, to be with his fiance after his workplace, aMetis organization, was destroyed.

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Sheldon Dahl, a 36-year-old husband and father of three,braved flames that lapped at the sides of Highway 63 as he headedsouth through a sky of orange in his minivan. (Photo:Bloomberg)

Even in the company of good friends, all laughter and smiles,it’s clear these evacuees — or “fire refugees” to use the termcoined by one — are still processing the gravity of what’shappened. “I’m still shell-shocked,” Alahmad said.

Helicopter airlift

Many who fled the oil hub earlier watched as familiar landmarksbecame engulfed in flames. Most drove south, until the firebreached Highway 63, forcing the rest to head north and take refugeat oil-sands work camps.

Other evacuees are taking cover at an exhibition place inEdmonton that’s been opened up or finding rooms in Lac La Biche andother communities between the capital and Fort McMurray. Stillothers left town with their camper trailers despite themunicipality’s pleas for them to avoid jamming up the roads, andare finding parking lots to set up while they wait out the blaze.In Lac La Biche, a few dozen are sleeping in the hockey arena.

Fortna watched the smoke roll into his own street as neighborshopelessly sprayed their roofs withwater, then was forced out of two other neighborhoodsby the flames. He was eventually airlifted out by helicopter withhis friends after they were cornered by the fire in a part of FortMcMurray where there was no other road out.

Disaster movie

Sheldon Dahl, a 36-year-old husband and father of three, bravedflames that lapped at the sides of Highway 63 as he headed souththrough a sky of orange in his minivan, smoke seeping into thevehicle for the worst five-minute stretch of the drive leaving FortMcMurray.

“It felt like I was in a disaster movie,” Dahl said. “It wassurreal.”

Originally from Edmonton, the high school teacher plans torebuild his destroyed home in Fort McMurray, though he said hewonders how many students will be left to teach as some familiesopt to move back to Eastern provinces such as Nova Scotia orNewfoundland and Labrador. The former boom town that was burstingat the seams just a few years ago dealing with a massive influx ofoil sands workers, is now in tatters.

“We have entire neighborhoods that are gone,” Dahl said. “Willwe have students to put in these schools?”

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Earl’s in Edmonton picked up the dinner bill for the dozen or sofriends who met to share their harrowing stories of the last coupledays and hopes for Fort McMurray’s future. Another who joined themfrom Edmonton picked up the drink tab.

As the evacuees tried to move past their loss and focus on thesubject of rebuilding, they were also keenly aware that the crisishadn’t ended, as the fire continued to cover more ground throughthe night.

“It’s not over,” Alahmad said. “We’re in the worst time rightnow.”

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