Victims of Canada's wildfire have spoken of having to evacuate so quickly they did not have time to collect their possessions.

Joan Bates, a resident of Fort McMurray, told ITV News: "They didn't even let us take our things...so we lost everything."

The province of Alberta declared a state of emergency as crews worked to hold back flames. Around 1600 homes have been destroyed by the wildfire.

Authorities in the city of Fort McMurray provided buses for people without cars to evacuate affected areas.

Many residents were only permitted to take as many clothes as they could carry and their pets.

"You don't know what's burned and what's not burned, when you can go back," said resident Donna Goallamot.

"Now you're sitting here and all you see is red flames - it's pretty scary."