'It was that close': Former Ottawan describes fleeing Fort McMurray inferno with family

Around noon Tuesday, Jason Blair looked out the front window of his downtown office in Fort McMurray and saw flames in the trees.

He had woken up that day to clear skies and gone about his business as usual,but the situation changed quickly once thewinds picked up and changed direction.

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"[There was] smoke, billowing, and the smoke was orange above the trees. And then I took off, picked up my son from daycare, went home and started to pack. It was that close. It was that close," Blair told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning by phone Wednesday.

He said he tried not to be terrified as he went home to pack with his wife, their son,and their 14-day-oldgirl.

'Really trying not to cry'

"Think about going home right now and grabbing what you can. What would you grab?" Blair askedhost Robyn Bresnahan.

"You get the list of insurance papers, you get the list of birth certificates and passports and that kind of stuff but pictures and memorabilia what is valuable and what isn't valuable? And you've only got a short amount of time to do this. And plusyou pack up your babies and then you're on the road. Where are you going? They're telling you to head somewhere, but you can see the lineup of cars. You're caught in traffic and everybody's heading to the same place. Where are you going? What are you doing?

"... Funny thing is, that's the only road in and out of town and it's surrounded by trees. And then you get to wherever you're going, and you just sit and wait."

Flight to safety

After trying to head south on Highway 63 and being turned away, the family drove north to Fort McKay, and then on totheCNRL oilsandssite, where they were hustled onto a plane to Calgary within minutes of arriving. They're now safe in Cochrane, Alta., near Calgary.

Blair'sbrothers and sister also managed to flee.

"I'm distressed. I'm really trying not to cry. ... We were standing there in Fort McKay, and my wife's rocking a 14-day old little girl, crying, and my two-year-old doesn't understand what's going on, and she looks at you and says, 'What are we going to do? What do we do?'" Blair said.

Blair lived and worked in Ottawa beforemovingto Fort McMurray 10 years ago, where he works asa real estate agent.

Listen to the entire interview with Blair here.