The people of Alberta in Canada know wildfires, but not like this.
The city they love has been overwhelmed and defeated by the flames that enveloped their lives so quickly and ferociously.
Lac La Biche is the next town south of Fort McMurray.
It's still three hours away - this a remote part of the world. That makes communities close and intimate.
The Bold Recreation Center has opened up its doors as a sanctuary for those who are so much in need.
Donations are constantly pouring in - water, food, clothes, nappies, toys, pet food, books - the essentials that people didn't think of when they were running for their lives.
Volunteers keep arriving - fire and rescue groups, caterers with barbecues, kind locals who say they just want to make some of the children smile.
The Red Cross is here, offering one-on-one support, so are insurance companies so people can start working out how to start again.
A makeshift animal rescue centre is full of cats and dogs - some claimed - others still looking for their owners.
A lot of people I speak to don't know what has happened to their home - and that part of them doesn't want to.
They've seen the images of the monster fire that have shocked the world.
For them, it's not an unfamiliar place thousands of miles away - it's home. It's where they grew up, went to school, got married.
The precious items they've gathered through the years - a baby's lock of hair, wedding dresses, family photos, engagement rings, are gone.
Fort McMurray resident Marlene Cardinal says the fire came fast.
"When we were told to evacuate, from our side of town, it didn't seem urgent - it was a calm sunny day," she says.
"Then suddenly we saw the smoke - then the flames. It was just unreal."
She gets tearful.
"It's not just houses and objects - its lives, jobs, security."
Brian Jean is a local politician, the leader of the opposition in the province of Alberta.
Dressed in a suit, he walks around the refuge centre shaking hands and offering words of comfort and optimism.
His own home and everything in it doesn't exist anymore.
"We're going to get through this. We're a strong community and we will recover," he says.
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