'I thought we were going to perish': Construction workers safe after wildfire closed in around them

The superintendent of a construction crew that sheltered in a shipping container as an out of control wildfire closed in around them says they're lucky to be alive.

The 19-person crew — with all but one hailing from communities across Manitoba —- had been working at a job site near Sandy Lake in northwestern Ontario. The site included workers from Sigfusson Northern and Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. who were doing a project for Sandy Lake First Nation.

Terrifying video posted to social media shows the massive flames and smoke leaping above the treeline against a red sky, just meters from where the group was huddled.

"I thought we're going to perish, actually," said Neal Gillespie, who works with Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc.

A group of 19 construction workers, 18