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80, 000 evacuated in Candian city after wildfire damaged 1,600 buildings

By Jeffrey Owusu-Mensah
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Over 1,600 sructures have been affected by a wildfire that has it the city of Fort McMurray in the Canadian province of Alberta.

The premier of the province, Rachel Notley, says the fire was still on the move, with more communities, including the airport area, in danger.

Fire services said the high winds and hot temperatures would make Wednesday an "even worse day" than Tuesday.

Some 80,000 residents have been evacuated, with no injuries reported.

Ms Notley said that the fire had moved north and east across the city and that if the winds behaved as predicted, the blaze would move into the Thickwood and Timberlea communities, as well as the area around the airport.

Fire services said the size of the fire was now 7,500 hectares (29 sq miles) and was being tackled by 100 firefighters, with efforts focused on downtown, the Gregoire area and the airport.

Ms Notley said the downtown area was at present mostly unaffected.

She praised Albertans for helping neighbours in need.

"We will get through this and we will come out stronger on the other side," she said, according to BBC