As thousands of evacuees flee the 200,000-hectare, out-of-control Fort McMurray forest fire, now nicknamed “the beast”, the Town of Westlock has opened its campground to those passing through or taking temporary refuge.
Refugees have been directed to Mountie Park Campground where they can camp, free of charge. Information and relief resources are also available at the Rotary Spirit Centre, near the campground.
Jason Sutton and his family were among those camping out on Thursday after they were ordered to leave their home on Tuesday, like all other 80,000-plus Fort McMurray residents.
Along with his sister-in-law’s family, Sutton, his wife Trisha and son Dakota and dogs and cats, decided to stop in Westlock after learning of the campground’s availability.
Fire chief Stuart Koflick said the town was not asked to take in refugees, but was able to allocate some resources to evacuees.
“We have found that there are some evacuees in the Westlock area. All we’re doing is providing information to those evacuees and taking stock of any immediate needs they have,” Koflick said.
“We’re opening up our campground and being a good neighbour. We’re opening up the Spirit Centre if anyone wants to have a coffee on us and decompress.”
Getting to town was a challenge in and of itself for the family. It took more than five hours to drive less than 50 kilometres out of the city, even with all four lanes of highway open to southbound traffic.
“It was obvious things were getting worse and more out of control, so we just decided to get out of there and go a long ways away. Westlock was a good idea,” Sutton said.
He described the scene as surreal, as if it were out of a movie.
“It was like war zone. Wild animals running up and down the roads, everything was black,” Sutton said.
“When we were leaving we could see fire next to the highway. It was an incredible sight
“Who would ever think they’d see their city burn down? It’s mind boggling.”
Taking notice of evacuees in the area, a group of Good Samaritans banded together to provide assistance to them on their way through on Wednesday.
Teresa Sheflin said she heard about the mass evacuation of Fort McMurray on the news and wanted to help those fleeing the fire.
Sheflin said she then went to some local businesses to collect donations of food and water before setting up shop at the Clyde Petro Canada to hand it out to hungry and tired travelers.
“We got this little set up for people to stop in, we’ve got it posted on a site for Fort McMurray evacuees,” Sheflin said.
“They can stop in any time and help themselves.”
Volunteers also packed a trailer full of supplies to send to those stranded in Wandering River, a hamlet housing even more evacuees.
Fort McMurray’s Aaron Stark, who was headed to Calahoo to stay with family, stopped in at the gas station along with his 18-month-old daughter.
Stark said he was first evacuated north of Fort McMurray to an oil camp on Tuesday, before leaving on Wednesday. He said he made it through before the highway was closed down due to smoky conditions.
“It was pretty bad. I’ve heard 1,200 houses are gone already, 88,000 people evacuated,” he said, unaware of the condition of his own home.
“I haven’t heard yet. We’re in a wooded area, so it’s not looking good. If we prepare for the worst and come back to a house, that’s a bonus, I guess.”
He said he’s trying to keep good spirits during a difficult time.
“I’m not sure if it’s really hit yet. Family is the important thing,” he said.
“Everything else can be replaced.”
Like Stark, Sutton wasn’t sure what they’d return to.
“We don’t know what our next move its, we’re just going day-by-day,” Sutton said.
“I’m hoping because of the location of our house, it’s further north and in the centre of the residential area, we might get lucky,” he said.
“Nobody knows … it’s hard to say if anything’s going to be left.”
Along with her husband and small children, Dawn Booth stopped by for a sandwich on the way to Spruce Grove.
“At 1:30 p.m. (Tuesday) I found out I had to pick up my son, his school was being evacuated,” Booth said.
“It was in the couple hours that followed, every neighbourhood was getting evacuated. At 8:30 we hit the road and we got go Athabasca at 4:30 in the morning.”
Booth said her family found a hotel there and spent the rest of the night, before continuing the trip on Wednesday.
Myles Gray, a contract worker at the Syncrude plant, along with three other co-workers said they were told to leave the city and were passing through town on their way to Edmonton.
“We were essential personnel on site and then we were told to leave, critical personnel only,” Gray said, a Vernon, B.C. resident.
“We slept in our trucks last night and we left this morning.”
The evacuees were appreciative of the help from everyone along the way.
“As we got further and further (south), the support got greater and greater,” Sutton said.
“We got free fuel, food, water … the help has been amazing on the way down.”
Booth became emotional when describing the gratitude of those lending helping hand.
“The humanity of it, seeing everybody coming together and supporting us and supporting one another, it really touches my heart,” she said.
Others even set up their own trailers at Mountie Park as a place for evacuees to stay, while other dropped by to offer food and water.
Dustin Taylor and Alex Judson were working for an Edmonton-based promotions company at the Petro Canada. When they learned of what the volunteers were doing, they dropped everything to help out.
Aside from opening up Mountie Park Campground, the town also offered up free coffee and doughnuts at the Spirit Centre during operational hours. Koflick said the town was never asked by provincial operations to provide official assistance.
“Those evacuees are the responsibility of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, if there is assistance required for those evacuees, the municipality contacts the provincial operations centre,” he said.
“Provincial operations contacts communities and puts the word out that we need extra resources.”
CAO Dean Krause said town administration prepares for such scenarios, whether it’s providing aid, or preparing for a local emergency, on a regular basis.
“The town has an emergency management plan and actually, we were going through that plan last week,” he said. “We’re constantly working on it and refreshing it. It’s pretty high priority for our staff.”
Official reception centres were set up in Lac La Biche and at Edmonton’s Northlands for the 80,000-plus displaced residents.
Area residents are also being asked to drop off resources at R.F. Staples School, where students are working hard to amass basic necessities, such as food, clothing, blankets, pillows, first aid supplies and pet food.
Items can be dropped off until Thursday, May 12. Anyone with proof of residence in Fort McMurray is able to pick up items, that day, from 12:30 to 6 p.m. All extra food items will be donated to Alberta Red Cross.
Any Fort McMurray business looking for board-room access, office space can contact Caleb, with Prestige Construction at 780-288-9638.
