“It was like a scene from a horror movie.”
Now safe in Bonnyville, Craig Haynes recalls the unimaginable moments as he fled Fort McMurray with his wife Jessica and their two-month old and four-year-old daughters.
“It was pretty surreal driving through and you saw grass fires and houses on fire. Complete neighbourhoods were smolder and rubble. It was something I would never wish on my enemy.”
As a wildfire continued to rage, on May 3, residents of Fort McMurray found themselves in a panic after a mandatory evacuation was issued. The entire population of the city was forced to find temporary shelter.
“We went north to Suncor and (my husband's) boss had a camper across from Suncor. By the time it got dark, it was very smoky, you couldn't see the camper next to us,” said Tara Sutton, Haynes' sister who escaped the fire with husband Chris. “At 2:30 in the morning there were seven vehicles with us in a convoy and we just took off. You could barely see through the smoke, but you could see the hot spots in the hills.”
Comparing it to a scene from The Walking Dead, Haynes recollected about cars beings left in ditches and people driving through parks just to get back to their houses. Cars flooded the highway as evacuees tried to put distance between themselves and the fire.
“It was scary, not knowing what was going to happen next,” said Haynes. “Once I got south of the city and the sun came out, it was a big weight off of our shoulders – until I realized we didn't have much gas. It was one hour waiting in line in Anzac for gas, I just kept thinking 'please, don't let the gas be all gone.'”
For Haynes and his family, they know they won't be home for a while but are comforted knowing their home is standing at this point as they check on it through security cameras.
Other evacuees who have taken refuge in Bonnyville aren't so lucky.
“My house is totally gone. I don't have a home to go back to and I know there's so much other stuff gone so I won't be going back there. I'm thinking I need to find a new home. I don't know where I'm going to put my roots, but it's something I have to do – start over,” said evacuee Denise Hopley.
After walking out of her house and seeing the neighbourhood burning, Hopley immediately got her daughter and dogs ready to go while trying to get ahold of her youngest son. Unable to reconnect her family prior to leaving, Hopley left town hoping to meet up with her son later.
Following behind her daughter, she remembered not being able to drive on the road due to pieces of trees, mobile homes, and other debris flying around. Eventually making it to the highway, they just started driving.
“I had no idea where we were going. The first few hours of driving I look back now and I don't even know where we were driving. We were able to stay in some stranger's garage. They had nothing but a blanket, but that was the best feeling ever to sleep in the garage,” Hopley recounted.
She added, “I didn't see my son until (Wednesday). It was like seeing him for the first time, it was really emotional.”
Both Hopley, Haynes and their families, amongst many others, decided to make the trek to Bonnyville in search for a place to stay. Fortunately, they were met with welcoming arms.
The Microtel Inn and Suites was one of the first to extend a helping hand, giving evacuees a free stay and hot meals. In the first night, the local hotel had filled each room set aside for those coming in from Fort McMurray.
“The biggest thing for us is we're thinking about the people living in Fort McMurray and their families and making sure they're alright. In terms of our approach, we're going to do what we can,” said Chief Operating Officer Eric Watson.
Watson and other Microtel staff knew the devastation the people of Fort McMurray had went through, as they watched two of their own hotels – the Super 8 and a new one under construction, burn down in the fire.
“For us to rebuild hotels, at the end of the day it's just a building, people don't live in it. You have so many people that have had their entire lives uprooted. It's heartwarming to see everybody chipping in. Not just ourselves, but other businesses within the community so that we can take care of these people.”
Chip in they did. Countless Bonnyville area businesses and organizations jumped to help out the evacuees, whether it was offering free meals or services, or holding donation drives for money and necessities.
While here in Bonnyville people are doing what they can, members of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority (BRFA) made the trip north. A tanker truck and two firefighters were first sent to assist the Fort McMurray crews with battling the blaze. The crew was eventually upped to three BRFA members.
“The best way to describe it is it's an awful lot of work,” said Fire Chief Brian McEvoy. “Knowing that we couldn't send them all, it was very hard deciding who we did send. There wasn't one member on the fire or EMS side who wouldn't have gone...There were probably 200 people chomping at the bit to go.”
On Friday, after fighting the fire non-stop, a replacement crew was sent up to give the first team some well-deserved rest. By Sunday, all BRFA members were back home.
While the local EMS were never called upon to assist, McEvoy noted that's not stopping some of them from offering their skills. There are a number of local EMS staff considering applying for volunteer work in the areas at urgent care centres.
Bonnyville hasn't been asked to be an official evacuation centre, however, McEvoy said those discussions are still ongoing as the wildfire continues to burn. On Friday, the town did establish an evacuee check-in centre at the C2 to better understand how many Fort McMurray residents are here and how they can help.
“The community of Bonnyville responded as it always does; with a very open heart and helping hands,” expressed McEvoy.
