With one of the biggest evacuations in Canadian history underway in Fort McMurray, natives of Vancouver Island are sharing their stories of the devastation.

“It was kind of like Armageddon. There were cars abandoned on the side of the highway. There were cars abandoned on the median. There were burnt cars everywhere,” said Dan Smith, who was born and raised in Victoria and moved his family to the northern Alberta city three years ago.

“It’s been pretty surreal. We’re still in a bit of shock and trying to comprehend what’s going on.”

Wildfires burning near the city spread Tuesday due to temperatures of up to 32 degrees Celsius and strong winds, catching residents and fire officials off-guard.

Smith was one of 80,000 people who followed a mandatory evacuation order.

Many left behind homes they’d never see again as entire neighbourhoods were leveled in a matter of hours.

“It was gridlock,” said Smith. “It took us a good two hours to get to the highway.”

But when they made it, they discovered the flames had jumped across the only highway in the region rendering it unsafe to pass.

Smith, an oil sands worker, then headed north to get to his office. The drive took about six hours, he said.

The family stayed there for a few hours before heading out once more – this time trying to head south, to Edmonton.

“It was thick, black smoke. You should see about 10 feet in front of you,” he said. “There’s not a lot left, to be honest. The Beacon Hill area especially, it looks like the end of the world. It was awful.”

He said they drove past, among other things, a trailer park and a hotel that had been completely burned to the ground.

The family is now in Edmonton where they’ll await word of their own home’s fate.

“It seemed like it was in a pretty safe spot, but a lot of our friends have confirmed that their houses have been lost,” Smith said. “There’s been a lot of tears and a lot of panic but we’re all trying to stay positive and stick together.”

The province has since declared a state of emergency as more than 250 firefighters battle the flames.

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said an estimated 1,600 structures have already been lost to the fire.

While some worry about the state of their homes, other oil patch workers are worried about what the disaster might mean for their jobs in an industry already struggling with economic slowdown.

“They got all the workers out on site to house the locals and some of the locals were on our flights last night,” said David Cowieson, a crane operator at Husky Energy’s Sunrise oilsands plant. “Last night, WestJet had five planes on our runway to take us out.”

Prior to returning home to the Comox Valley, Cowieson said he jumped into action to help bring the city’s evacuees into his camp.

“Scared, terrified, no place to go. Their house had burnt down, no evacuation plan, there’s only one highway in and out. So yeah, it wasn’t good,” he said.

Cowieson said he doesn’t know when he’ll be called back to work and isn’t sure what will be left of the area.

“It’s going to be horrible. From what I’m hearing right now the city’s gone, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” he said.

With high winds expected tomorrow, experts predict the worst may still lie ahead for the region.

For emergency information and ways to help those affected by the fire, click here.