Many Fort McMurray residents will begin their trek back into town on Wednesday following the devastating wildfire that ripped through the northern Alberta community.

On the highway back home, fire trucks suspend a Canadian flag from an overpass as the first wave of residents return home for the first time in a month.

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As the first phase of re-entry begins, people will also pass by this RCMP checkpoint south of the city where essential services crews check in.

This is the information centre where residents come to pick up supplies, their Red Cross cleaning kit and any other additional information they might be looking for.

This is the corner of King Street and Centennial Street. Down the road, businesses began opening up on Wednesday.

And while clearer air has replaced the grey haze of early May, on the ground, the damage is still very apparent.

These panoramic photos, taken by CTV’s Melanie Nagy, give a glimpse of the destruction. Down Highway 63, just south of the downtown core, sit scorched trailers and burnt earth.

And these photos, taken by the Canadian Press’s Jason Franson on May 13, show the northern Alberta town as the smoke and haze from the fires still hung overhead.

The neighbourhood of Abasand was his particularly hard. Many of the area’s buildings were razed by the flames, and even those left standing sit across from charred debris.