I am sure almost everyone has heard about the situation in Fort McMurray Alberta. It has been making headlines around the world the past week. Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I saw a post that said both our countries are dealing with tragedy. The American dream just became a nightmare with Trumps win and the Canadian dream is going up in smoke. Thousands upon thousands of people moved to Ft.Mac in search of their dream of high paying jobs etc and now many have lost EVERYTHING.
I have a friend with whom I used to work with back in my broadcast days that lives in Fort Mac now. John and Kerry live in the Timberlea part of the city. When the mandatory evac call was given she was in the north part of the city while he was at his business that he owns (Forthryte services) which is in the southern part. She had to evac north while he had to evac south. He had taken all the trucks out Sunday and returned Tuesday afternoon only to have the wind change and force everyone to evac later Tuesday. He has now relocated in Edmonton after being forced out of Conklin as the fire spread south. I assumed his wife Kerry made it out to one of the work camp lodges north of the city which will house thousands of people. These camps have private airstrips capable of handling 737 aircraft. Flights are coming and going all the time to take people back south to Calgary or Edmonton. Yesterday the police escorted up too 2500 vehicles back south thru the city on highway 63 down to Edmonton where it will be easier to look after their needs IF it is safe. They had air support for visually ensuring things are OK as well as air tanker over flights just in case of flare ups along the way.They also sent in a mobile gas station as they call it to fuel up vehicles before heading out. I have been in contact with John but the last I heard from him was yesterday morning. By all accounts I am able to put together including a news interview with a person from Johns subdivision area that stayed it appears his house has been saved. His wife was able to get out of the work lodge she was in and caught an evac flight out to Edmonton where they are now in a motel. Close to 90,000 people were evacuated and as of last night the fire had consumed over a quarter of a million acres and was expected to double over the weekend. It is so big and fierce that meteorologists have said it is starting to create it's own weather patterns including dry lightning which occurs with any moisture falling which is another problem and could spark more fires.It has been exceptionally hot and dry this spring out there and the 1100 firefighters and dozens of helicopters and air tankers have little effect on the fires. They need rain and lots of it.
Highway thru hell.
View from my friends shop as he was pulling the trucks out of the city.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-saturday-1.3571678
Despite looking like the following video was shot at night it was actually shot in the middle of the afternoon. Smoke is so heavy it looks like night time however later in the video you can see brighter sky off to the left.
I have a friend with whom I used to work with back in my broadcast days that lives in Fort Mac now. John and Kerry live in the Timberlea part of the city. When the mandatory evac call was given she was in the north part of the city while he was at his business that he owns (Forthryte services) which is in the southern part. She had to evac north while he had to evac south. He had taken all the trucks out Sunday and returned Tuesday afternoon only to have the wind change and force everyone to evac later Tuesday. He has now relocated in Edmonton after being forced out of Conklin as the fire spread south. I assumed his wife Kerry made it out to one of the work camp lodges north of the city which will house thousands of people. These camps have private airstrips capable of handling 737 aircraft. Flights are coming and going all the time to take people back south to Calgary or Edmonton. Yesterday the police escorted up too 2500 vehicles back south thru the city on highway 63 down to Edmonton where it will be easier to look after their needs IF it is safe. They had air support for visually ensuring things are OK as well as air tanker over flights just in case of flare ups along the way.They also sent in a mobile gas station as they call it to fuel up vehicles before heading out. I have been in contact with John but the last I heard from him was yesterday morning. By all accounts I am able to put together including a news interview with a person from Johns subdivision area that stayed it appears his house has been saved. His wife was able to get out of the work lodge she was in and caught an evac flight out to Edmonton where they are now in a motel. Close to 90,000 people were evacuated and as of last night the fire had consumed over a quarter of a million acres and was expected to double over the weekend. It is so big and fierce that meteorologists have said it is starting to create it's own weather patterns including dry lightning which occurs with any moisture falling which is another problem and could spark more fires.It has been exceptionally hot and dry this spring out there and the 1100 firefighters and dozens of helicopters and air tankers have little effect on the fires. They need rain and lots of it.
Highway thru hell.
View from my friends shop as he was pulling the trucks out of the city.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fort-mcmurray-wildfire-saturday-1.3571678
Despite looking like the following video was shot at night it was actually shot in the middle of the afternoon. Smoke is so heavy it looks like night time however later in the video you can see brighter sky off to the left.
Last edited:
