This article first appeared in the 14 October edition of Upstream newspaper.
All that changed by mid-afternoon when the wind picked up and the once-blue sky began to cloud over in a smoky gray haze.
Within hours, a wildfire unlike anything the region had ever experienced consumed the city from the south — destroying neighbourhoods in its wake and forcing the evacuation of all McMurrayites, including prompting a shutdown of several oil sands operations.
EYEWITNESS
