A former Guelph resident doesn’t know if she will have a home to go to, as fires rage throughout Fort McMurray .

Wildfires have been blazing in and around Fort McMurray for several days. On Tuesday residents were told to evacuate as the flames came closer to the city.

Many people left just in time, in one neighbourhood 80 percent of the homes have been destroyed.

Sarah Sanvido and her husband took what they could and left their home.

As she was packing up her car, she said she could feel the burning from the smoke and heat in her throat.

“We could see the flames down the street when we were leaving our house,” said Sanvido.

The wildfires creating a black blanket of smoke caused an added stress for the Guelph native, as she is asthmatic. Sanvido described the air quality as painful.

“The ash was thick and starting to rain down,” she said. “We had to switch between the AC on and off in order to breathe on the car. The worst was driving through downtown to get out, I had to breathe through my shirt and we had the AC off.”

She said the heat was unbearable as she tried to evacuate the city.

“It was like an oven from the radiant heat.”

According to forestry manager Bernie Schmitte, the worst of the blaze is not over as a combination of high temperatures, low relative humidities and strong winds are expected throughout the day Wednesday.

“Our house is currently still there which is great but Wednesday is supposed to be really bad so we will wait and see,” Sanvido said in an email interview with CTV.

Although the situation itself was scary, survival skills kicked into gear. She said the adrenaline was pumping and getting out to safety was her main goal.

Many drivers headed south towards Edmonton, while others drove north to the oilsands where companies have opened their camps to evacuees.

She left her house around 4:30 in the afternoon Tuesday, but because of the traffic congestion from the thousands of other people voluntarily leaving Fort McMurray, it took about six hours to get to safety.

They were stuck for hours trying to get out of the city that is under a state of emergency. Due to the traffic jam, her husband actually jumped out of their car twice to run home and grab a few forgotten essentials like medication.

Sanvido hasn’t had time to think, but does worry about what damage the fires will cause to her community.

“I keep thinking oh god, will I have a home tomorrow, what is this going to look like for us?” said Sanvido.