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NASA photos show the destruction of the massive Canadian wildfire, which has grown 8 times since Wednesday

Jeremy Berke   

NASA photos show the destruction of the massive Canadian wildfire, which has grown 8 times since Wednesday
Science2 min read

Fort McMurray fire

CF Operations/Handout via REUTERS

A Canadian Joint Operations Command aerial photo shows wildfires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada.

A massive wildfire has been raging in Fort McMurray, Alberta - the center of the Canadian oil industry - forcing the entire town of over 88,000 people to evacuate.

And it's still burning out of control.

The fire's area grew eight times overnight, according to satellite images from NASA's Earth Observatory

See for yourself, in this tweet from Judy Trinh, a CBC reporter:

If the entire town has to be rebuilt, insurers estimate that the damage caused by the fire could hit up to $9 billion dollars, according to the CBC.

It would be by far the costliest disaster in Canadian history.

Fort McMurray fire

RCMP Alberta/Handout via REUTERS

A Mountie surveys the damage on a street in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada in this twitter image posted on May 5, 2016.

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