As I’m sure my Canadian (and some American) readers have heard, there’s currently a massive wildfire burning in Fort McMurray, which is in northern Alberta. It’s about 650 km north of Calgary, where I live. It’s been absolutely devastating. According to this article from the CBC, the fire is expected to burn for months. The fire has steadily grown over the last week. It’s even reached the Saskatchewan border.
#FortMcMurray fire size in hectares:
Wednesday 10,000
Thursday 85,000
Friday 100,000
Saturday 156,000
Sunday 200,000
#ymmfire #ymm— Natasha Fatah (@NatashaFatah) May 8, 2016
#FortMcMurray pic.twitter.com/BtJAAANlwk
— Jaguar (@jaguar1960) May 4, 2016
Close to 90,000 people have been evacuated from Fort McMurray and surrounding areas. I can only imagine how scary it would be to leave. Countless people have lost their houses and all their possessions. All they have is what they took with them. The Premier of Alberta, Rachel Notley, has said the people evacuated won’t be home in days, that it will take longer. The power grid in Fort McMurray has been damaged by the fire. The gas supply to the town has been shut off. The water isn’t safe to drink. As this video shows, the damage is extensive. It doesn’t even look real – more like out of a movie.
The view of people trying to leave #FortMcMurray right now. All my thoughts and prayers for the people there :( pic.twitter.com/wZKD6oanzs
— Nazaneen Baqizada (@NazAfifa) May 4, 2016
In the midst of the heartbreaking destruction though, there’s hope. Firefighters from all over Alberta – even Canada have volunteered to go to Fort McMurray to help fight the fire. When Fort McMurray was evacuated people were running out of gas on the highway trying to leave. Other Albertans loaded up as much gas as they could in jerry cans and headed north to give it away for free to people who were stranded. As of last night The Canadian Red Cross has received $44 million worth of donations. If you want to donate, you can here on the Red Cross website. People have been opening up their homes for evacuees. People with acreages has been welcoming people to stay on their land who managed to leave with their trailers. Post secondary institutions across Alberta have opened up their residences so that evacuees have somewhere to stay. In under a day the Calgary Humane Society had 600 kennels donated to send to evacuation centers and to use to get pets out of Fort McMurray.
WE MET OUR URGENT NEED – TY These kennels are going to help families and their pets fly out of evacuated zones! pic.twitter.com/uWPmgMAxol
— CalgaryHumaneSociety (@CalgaryHumane) May 5, 2016
Once again, if you’re able to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. This link takes you directly to the Canadian Red Cross.
I’m from Saskatchewan but have been working in the oil field in Alberta the past 3 years. I’m addicted to watching the news updates and am always left in shock. You’re right it doesn’t look real, it looks like some sort of apocalypse movie. As devastating as this disaster is it’s very heartwarming to see the province and country come together to help one another. There’s a sense of pride and belonging that helps everyone get through these hard times.
Agreed. Even with all the devastation, it’s great to see how generous people are.