A Fort McMurray family watched a live video feed on a cellphone as their home burned down in the raging wildfire after they fled the city earlier this week.
Speaking with Edmonton Metro, James O’Reilly said he watched his home go up in flames on his iPhone shortly after the man and his wife fled the house with nothing but some clothing on Tuesday.
“We’ve been talking for two days about all the things we left behind,” O’Reilly told the newspaper. “We left pretty much all our important papers, some important pictures; we left a glass of Candace’s father who passed away.”
READ MORE: Photos of the Fort McMurray wildfire through the eyes of evacuees
The video was captured on an indoor security camera in the front room of his house. The time-lapse footage shows the room darkening as smoke is seen swirling around in the windows and the crackling of wood is heard in the video.
A window shatters as smoke and flames engulf the room.
O’Reilly was about 20 minutes from his house when he watched the footage while sitting in his truck, Metro reported.
The raging wildfire forced more than 80,000 people from their homes this week as the inferno destroyed more than 1,600 structures before it exploded in size, covering more than 100,000 hectares as of Friday morning.
READ MORE: ‘This is insane’: Dramatic video shows Fort McMurray residents fleeing raging wildfire
On Wednesday, the province declared a provincial state of emergency.
Residents captured their harrowing escapes on video on social media. Here’s a look at some of the dramatic footage from the Fort McMurray wildfire.