Wildfires in Alberta!

lilwonder

Just checking in with those of you living up there, to make sure you're alright!! I just got back home from being out all day and I'm seeing some crazy wildfire stuff all over the news. Please stay safe!!

comealongponds

It's pretty crazy out there...over 60% of the homes in Fort McMurray have been destroyed, along with businesses. A friend of mine made a narrow escape with her pets and BF, she said they literally had to drive through flames to get out of the city. I'm not sure if we have any Albertan Bumpies but if we do, I hope they're all safely away from the fires. 

Anyone with some disposable income they'd like to donate should direct it to the Canadian Red Cross it's going to be a long process of rebuilding. 

KilgraveMadeMeDoIt

I've got family and (former) neighbours in the area who got out. There's not a family in my province who doesn't have someone out there; Alberta feeds the Maritimes. My husband worked the oil fields for a few years; some of the camps he stayed at are now hosting evacuees. The work that goes through that city fed us for years. 

As @comealongponds said, anyone who can donate to the Canadian Red Cross: please do! The provincial government of Alberta and the federal government are matching donations.

carlatron

Yes, text REDCROSS to 30333. The federal government is matching donations dollar for dollar.

Isn't it awful? I was up in the middle of the night thinking about it. My husband and I are actually sitting down and having a serious discussion about our emergency plans should we ever be evacuated. We have all the stuff, but it is scattered throughout the house. Time to organize. You never know. A woman I know if Fort Mac is a nurse at the hospital. She stayed until the evac was complete, but then had to leave with only the clothes on her back. She couldn't even get her wallet because it was in her car, which was parked on the street too close to the fire. Her husband was evacuated south and she had to go north. Both her and her co-worker's phone batteries died shortly after they left and they couldn't get in touch with family for several hours. She is now at a loss as to what to do. She doesn't even know if they should get the ball rolling with insurance claims, because they're not sure if they've lost their house or not.

That's just one of countless stories. I can't even imagine.

pinnerk

Its so so so scary. I'm in BC and have many friends and family there. 
My brother is headed to assist with the fire. 

doraleigh35

I'm in Alberta. We're quite a bit south of the fires so we are currently not affected. We know a lot of people that have been evacuated. It's the largest evacuation in Alberta history with around 80,000 people. Families left their homes so fast that they had to leave behind pets and most of their belongings. It's truly devastating. Whole neighborhoods have been burned to the ground.

There a lot of amazing stories of humanity though too. Like people driving up with cans of gasoline for stranded motorists who were trying to leave, a FB group offering places to stay and lots of restaurants across the province who are giving away free meals. The shelter that we got our dog from was going up today to try to rescue as many animals as possible. Several of the oil companies are flying their employees out so that evacuees can use their camps.

My MIL volunteers with the Red Cross and was on call this week. She hasn't slept much. Like the others ladies have mentioned the Red Cross is accepting donations and the government is matching all donations.

We had a winter with very little snow and we've had hardly any rain. It's really dry out and several areas have had fire bans for weeks. I saw today that there are 1,100 firefighters battling 49 wildfires across the province. I'm praying that they get some relief soon.