Monday evening in Slave Lake

Alberta has called in hundreds of extra firefighters to battle a fire that was still considered out of control Monday after destroying 40 per cent of the town of Slave Lake — and forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.

Most of the destruction happened in the southeastern section of town, where half the homes were consumed by flames Sunday. The mall, town hall and many downtown businesses were destroyed.

The fire was still considered out of control as of 6 p.m. MT Monday.

Almost all 7,000 residents have been evacuated from the town, hundreds going to evacuation shelters in Athabasca, Westlock and Edmonton.

As of Monday evening, about 800 to 1,000 people were at the Athabasca shelter, 195 were in Edmonton and 46 people were staying in Westlock. Provincial officials said there is room for more people in all three locations.

Read the rest at CBC news here.

And here are a couple of the photographs.

Don’t forget that you can donate to the Red Cross to help displaced Slave Lake Residents at 1-800-418-1111.