The Beast - Fire in Fort McMurray

Being an Evacuee

Forest fires were a common event in Fort Mac. Smoke would roll in from other provinces, making the world dark and orange-hued. Sometimes they were closer - I remember a scary one in the Richardson backcountry. It was so close, desperate wildlife went into town to escape the fire. I have never seen so many bears.

‘Suicide 63’

Fort McMurray is NOT a small town. At the time it was easily home to over 100,000 people. Transient workers were not accounted for in census numbers, since they technically lived elsewhere. When the town was suddenly evacuated everyone had to go. One highway in and out, most people went south toward Edmonton.

Highway 63 is the main route to Fort Mac. When I drove there for the first time in 2006 it was a notorious single-lane highway. One lane northbound, one lane southbound for 250 kilometres. It was a scary and dangerous mess - complete with long-forgotten abandoned vehicles in the ditches. Thankfully, on the day that ‘the Beast’ took hold, a project to twin the highway was nearing completion.

Silent Stalker

The big one, known as ‘the Beast’, started like any other boreal forest fire. Everything was normal - until it wasn’t. The wind was blowing the smoke away from town. People knew a fire was nearby, but didn’t know just how close. I was lucky to be in Vancouver on May 3rd - when all hell broke loose.

That day was a real testament to the camaraderie that I’ve mentioned Fort McMurray should be famous for. Not a single person burned in the days that followed. It’s a town of solo workers in rented rooms and irregular work schedules - many people worked nights and slept during the day. Incredibly, well over 2,000 buildings were wiped off of the map and no one was left behind.

My May 3rd

We’d been visiting with Curt’s family near Vancouver and were supposed to fly back that day. We knew there was a fire, but fires were normal. As I sipped some red wine and Curt had some scotch in the airport lounge, I heard a man at the table next to us say ‘The Flying J’ just burned down. The ‘Flying J’ was a gas station in a populated area.

WHAT?! Very suddenly things got real. I called my boss and friend, who lived near the Flying J- no answer.
I texted another friend and co-worker.

‘Don’t come here’ he replied.

I later realized - when I was trying to call my boss, her house was burning down.

We went to our boarding gate, where they were still telling us that we’d be flying that day. ‘What do we do?’ we asked ourselves.

Ten minutes after we were scheduled to board, our flight was cancelled. I sat on a step in the airport, had a panicked cry and called my parents to let them know that I was safe - before they learn about it on the news.

From Boomtown to Hometown

I was an evacuee, yet I was in the comfort of Curt’s townhouse watching as an outsider. My life was still entirely in fort Mac, I owned a condo there and my car was parked at the airport. Sitting where it was, my hatchback witnessed a hotel burn down. All I could do was sit around, trying to keep abreast of what was happening.

My friends and coworkers were displaced throughout Alberta. Living in rec. centres, hotels, and sleeping on friends’ couches. The fire continued to attack from different angles. Just when you’d think it must be done - it would attack again as though it was an actual beast, dead-set on taking it all. From Curt’s backyard, I watched a live camera intended for watching the river breakup - as the beast attacked near the downtown core.

Comedy and Kindness

In the rush to escape people pack the funniest things. I watched online as the jokes started about what everyone threw in their cars before heading down the highway. Toilet paper, one single pair of pants, no underwear. I tried to imagine what I would’ve thrown into my small car.

On the day of the evacuation, the few gas stations along Highway 63 ran out of fuel. People ran out of gas on the highway south. In an act of incredible kindness, people from nearby communities filled cans of fuel and brought them to the people fleeing the disaster.

Returning Home

It was a month before I was allowed back, and it was a strange thing to return to. Parts of town - vanished. Nothing but concrete foundations and dust. I had a quiet cry as I rode the bus into town. The place that I’d lived in for nearly a decade was barely recognizable.

An incredible effort was made to ensure that things were ready for people to return. The power and gas in parts of town had been turned off for weeks. Grocery store freezers, full of food spoiled and were already re-stocked. . Barricades were put in place where it was no longer safe to drive.

When I returned home, my apartment only smelled vaguely of smoke. My car was fine. The clock on my stove was still correct. It was as though nothing had happened. Somehow the power to my building was never shut off. I’d seen pictures of my apartment with dense smoky orange skies on all sides, yet it was all okay.

Apocalyptic I-Spy

We went on a walk and explored a few blocks away, where firefighters had demolished garages to create a ‘fire break’ to stop the blaze. The streets were lined with fridges full of spoiled food, being disposed of as part of mass insurance claims.

We played a kind-of apocalyptic I Spy in the rubble.

I spy…. a flipped-over quad.

I spy… a classic mustang.

Getting back to work and talking to friends and coworkers it became clear that there were many close calls. In my department of 70, twelve people lost their homes. As people escaped in their vehicles, their wiper blades melted to their windshields. Some people were still at work, getting notifications as their cars burned down.
Front left tire flat.. Front right tire flat…

Alberta Proud

Scarred and Scathed after weeks of battling the beast, the town came out victorious. Without the efforts of firefighters, both local and from around the globe the town would have been lost completely. Through it all, people rallied together to make sure that everyone was okay. It was a defining moment in Alberta’s history and crystallized how incredibly resilient McMurrayites are.

Known to be tough oil workers, Fort McMurrayites and Albertans are also kind compassionate, ‘shirt off their backs’ type people. Their ability to thrive in the face of adversity is one to be admired.

You can also check out my other article about The Oilsands: Living and Working in Fort McMurray here;

The Oilsands