Fort Mac evacuated due to forest fires

Some 80,000 people were officially told to evacuate after homes in some neighbourhoods were burned out in Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. Evacuation is mandatory. Conditions are tinder dry, after a very dry winter and spring, forest fires have crept up to the outskirts of town. The problem is, Fort Mac is serviced by only 1 major highway and it is in total gridlock as people try to leave. This is the largest fire evacuation that has ever been in Alberta and bigger than the Slave Lake evacuation in 2011.

This is after the NDP government of the day decided to cut back on the firefighting budget this year even though it was obviously this was going to be a severe fire fighting year.

Where do 80,000 people go on a moment's notice? Hopefully, the residents had their plans in place and the BOBs all loaded.

Last year in my province of Saskatchewan we had the town of La Ronge and other communities evacuated when fire burned to the outskirts - that was a mere 13,000 people and were housed in centres all over the province.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada...reach-city-edge

I'm following this too. It went bad with frightening speed.

Fort Mc is surrounded by boreal forest, spruce and pine. It's Crown (public) land, so it's not intensely managed. Crews have been gearing up a month earlier than usual, anticipating a bad fire season.

Conditions are incredibly hot and dry throughout Alberta this spring. (I'm 500 km south of Fort Mc, and we're under full fire bans everywhere around here.)

After a calm night, the temperature hit 32C, humidity 15%. The winds came up and shifted direction, allowing the fire to jump the fire breaks and two rivers. Under these conditions, fires make up their own rules.

I doubt many people are well prepared for evacuation. An event of this scale and speed is very rare and outside of their experience. Northerners are a resilient lot, but this is bad business.

One of my nephews is in the area but not Fort Mac itself. He's an accountant for one of the oil companies so he only flys up a couple times a month. He's patiently waiting for his evac notice which will likely be by plane.

The call for all types of firefighting experienced volunteers has gone out. Edmonton is providing many of its members that can be spared to go into that area. Since one of my other nephews is a Calgary FF with prior experience as a Helitak firefighter, he might volunteer for action as well. Check that - I just heard he is headed out of country for a wedding. Resources from neighbouring provinces are ready to go as soon as the word is given.

I would hope that teams from your neighbor to the south would assist. I'm pretty sure we have hosted some of you in our more exciting clam bakes...

Wishing you well! It's been a few years since I've been to Manitoba and Saskatchewan but even then between the dryness and the pine beetles with forests looked pretty rough.

Scary stuff. Stay safe if you're in the area.





It sounds like the evacuations have been a nightmare. Better to have a solid personal bug-out plan than to rely on last minute plans from the powers that be, perhaps, but those winds seem to make running from wildfires a sketchy at best. Kudos to everyone trying to help!

Consider that the safest place to be in a unpredictable firestorm is within an area that is already burned.

Best wishes to those in a very nasty situation...

Have a Plan and a Full Tank of Gas

Residential Destruction Wildfire Update at 4:00 am

Some of the sections of town have been heavily damaged or destroyed. Approx. 1600 structures destroyed; fire is approx. 10,000 hectares in size and is expected to grow today with temps in the low 30s Celsius. Fire began on Sunday, cause unknown yet.
The pictures coming out of the area are disheartening and devastating.

So- good to have a bug out bag and plan...

This type of evacuation is beyond the limits of a BOB. This is where you pack for in case there's no home to which you can return. For wildfires here I start packing the truck with the knowledge that if I need to evacuate it's because there's a real possibility that the house will not be standing when I return. You start packing early knowing that anything you leave may be gone forever. Beautiful homes will turn to glowing embers -- sad.

I have loaded up our vehicles twice, realizing that the approaching wildfire could torch our house. It and contents are covered by insurance. Our priorities were people, pets, personal papers. Most of the rest is just stuff. A situation like this is a good reason to keep some minimal survival gear in the car (and keep some gas in the tank).

Lots of fuel out there and wildfire season is just around the corner...

In the aftermath of the fires, there are hundreds of people stranded on the highway south of Fort Mac. A tip of the hat to my Albertan neighbors who are coming to the rescue in the way of providing food, water, blankets and fuel for those stranded. Very impressive effort by citizens and businesses alike.

It’s what we do. Spontaneous Alberta rescue convoys head north to rescue stranded Fort McMurrayites

from Teslinhiker's link:
Two minutes ... I could do that if I'd been paying attention and my situational awareness (SA) was functioning. If a fire is that close you can smell it. My truck would have been packed...

For a two minute evac by car from my house, I would expect the children to grab go-bags, shoes and outerwear, and nothing else. My wife and I would grab a handgun and spare magazines, load the bug-out/bug-in bins (that supplement the core kit in each car) into one of the cars, grab the gas cans and go.

We don't drill this nearly enough.

Everyone should read this. It's epic. While I've seen my friends and neighbors pull together in disaster situations, I've never seen anything like this. My hat is off to the rescuers who gave so much to strangers.

Very heartening and inspiring, indeed....

The wildfire has now grown to some 328 square miles. Some areas to the north that were previously safe for evacuees are now under evacuation orders as well, with winds gusting to 70 kph driving the fire. Here's the view from one of those areas:


When the highway south was overrun by the fire, some 25,000 people headed north. Some are staying at work camps at the major oilsands sites, which have opened their doors to the evacuees. When the highway south can be safely reopened, most people will be headed for Edmonton, and we should be able to accommodate them.

Edmonton school boards have instructed schools to take in children of evacuees without requiring the usual proof of residency; no doubt establishing some aspects of normal life as quickly as possible is very good policy.

Some of the northern oilsands sites have airstrips that can accommodate commercial 737's, and are being used for critical evacuations (such as the evac of the hospital Tuesday) as the Fort Mac airport is shut down.

If I understand correctly, this is the largest evacuation in Canadian history.

Some very compelling videos from a persons vehicle onboard cameras while evacuating Fort Mac.

I can't find that checklist here or with the internet search engine.

If there was ever a reminder to keep the BOB up to date and ready, this is it. Guess what I'm doing tonight?

What isn't being felt in the videos is the tremendous heat that is radiated -- that would definitely add to the stress level of anybody driving past the fire.

Very good news story on the continuing efforts to help the people of Fort Mac and surrounding area. There is so much help in the way of supplies etc, that it is now overwhelming to the point that no evac center etc needs any more supplies.

Scenes from inside Fort McMurray

This is certainly a worthwhile contrast to the cliched "shoot and loot" scenario so often portrayed as the outcome of a disaster.

A photo from the story Teslinhiker posted above gives some sense of what a monster this 600-square-mile wildfire is:

[img]https://nationalpostcom.files.wordpress....w=940&h=705[/img]

Over the last three days, RCMP-led convoys with military helicopters as spotters have been able to move out most of the evacuees who were stranded north of Fort Mac. At least they have access to essential resources.

It's going to be weeks before anybody will be allowed to return, though. Basically, once essential services have been repaired, every building has to be checked for major hazards. Evacuees are already advertising for rental accommodations, knowing that they are going to be away for some time.

EDIT: Can't get the photo to display. Sorry 'bout that. I suspect the system here can't cope with a URL starting with "https:".

Interesting what people are taking when they have to leave in a hurry. Documents, valuables, and maybe, a couple changes of clothes. It seems that the emphasis is not so much immediate self reliance, but continuity after the smoke clears.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/06/americas/c...il_bottommedium


Compared to what the Syrian refugees carried, it seems that sentimental items were the common thread.

http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/syrian-refugees-what-they-carried/

Well said. Excellent observation.

Syria and Alberta are very different situations. In Alberta, you can still rely on insurance/outside assistance and an intact, predictably functioning society, so in prioritizing what to save and take with you, it is reasonable to choose unique items of personal value - the rest can be replaced in due course.

Not so much in Syria....

Yes, very different situations of course. Without getting into politics, it's clear that Syria is a no-win scenario for civilians caught in the middle, with few good options if they escape. I think Mark_R was only trying to point out some very human commonalities.

To illustrate that point: we have a number of Syrian refugee families in the Edmonton area, and they have been sharing their stories. While the more affluent among them were initially able to take household stuff with them in their initial move out of Syria, by the time they went through the refugee systems of two different countries, they touched down in Canada with nothing more than ... documents and momentoes.

The stories coming out of the Fort Mac and Edmonton area, continue to amaze me in how ordinary citizens to small and big business are stepping up to help the tens of thousands of people who were forced to hastily evacuate Fort Mac with very little in the way of personal affects when the fire unpredictably jumped the Athabasca river.

Retailers pitch in to help Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees

A week in Hell: How Fort McMurray burned

Excellent shares, Teslinhiker, thank you.

The Canadian Red Cross has raised some $67 million in private donations for Fort Mac evacuees over the last week.

So, these folks will soon be getting some direct cash for immediate needs from both the Province and the Red Cross. No doubt that will help a little.

What they really want most, of course, is to get back and check on their homes, and that's a waiting game.

A couple of articles I found interesting:


A scofflaw who defied the evacuation order and stayed behind:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/albe...rticle29986810/


Concerns about the toxic legacy of this type of fire:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/fo...6866/story.html

hikermor wrote:
>This is certainly a worthwhile contrast to the cliched "shoot and loot" scenario so often portrayed as the outcome of a disaster. >

This is a persistently recurring theme from disaster sites that don't know what they are talking about and just want an excuse to rambo around:

from wikipedia 'Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans':

Civil disturbances in post-Hurricane Katrina were consistent with all existing research on disaster sociology, which concludes that “[post-disaster] widespread looting [is] a myth”,[47] and were vastly overstated by the media, ultimately fueling a climate of suspicion and paranoia which greatly hampered rescue efforts and further worsened the conditions of the survivors....

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was characterized by extensive reporting of looting, violence, shooting against rescuers, murder and rape. While some criminal acts did occur, such as the emptying of an entire Walmart,[40] many reports were also exaggerated, inflated, or simply fabricated. Several news organizations went on to issue retractions.[41]

There were reports of snipers taking potshots at rescue helicopters; these were false. Reports of gangs roving the city shooting police officers and survivors were also false, as only one policeman was shot in the aftermath of Katrina and no indictments were brought forward against the supposed gang members.[42]

While looting was indeed widespread, many reported instances of "looting" were in fact stranded survivors scavenging necessary supplies such as food, water, clothing, and shelter.[43] Some instances of looting were later found out to have been carried out by a small number of NOPD officers.[44]
...

Some initial reports of mass chaos, particularly in stories about the Superdome, were later found to be exaggerated or rumor.[49] In the Superdome for example, the New Orleans sex crimes unit investigated every report of rape or atrocity and found only two verifiable incidents, both of sexual assault. The department head told reporters, "I think it was urban myth. Any time you put 25,000 people under one roof, with no running water, no electricity and no information, stories get told." Based on these reports, government officials expected hundreds of dead to be found in the Superdome, but instead found only 6 dead (of which there were 4 natural deaths, one drug overdose and one suicide).[39][50] In a case of reported sniper fire, the "sniper" turned out to be the relief valve of a gas tank popping every few minutes.[49]

Conversely, here's a humorous view of what some evacuees took with them.:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/05/08/fort-mcmurray-fire-packing-pictures_n_9863494.html

For anyone who's interested, here's a follow-up with some interesting side articles.

The fire has grown to some 1,600 square miles, pushed by low humidity and wind. Only rain can stop it now.

Fort Mac remains evacuated, except for first responders and experts who are trying to get essential services back online. The air quality index, usually measured 1-10 (with 10 being the worst) is at 38. Some 2,400 structures are believed to have been lost.

Oilsands installations north and west of Fort Mac remain shut down as workers were re-evacuated this week due to fire and smoke dangers. That's a production loss of some 1,000,000 barrels per day, a major financial hit to both the companies and the Province, which receives royalties.

A story on the experience of firefighters trying to save Fort Mac:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada...e-fort-mcmurray
A fascinating quote from the story above: "Wildfire experts assess fires by the amount of power given off per metre of fire line. Above 4,000 kilowatts/metre, it is too dangerous for ground crews, Flannigan said. Above 10,000, air bombardment has little effect. “I’m guessing this will be probably around 100,000 kilowatts/metre,” he said. “It developed its own thunder storm. This happens during high-intensity fires. It generated lightning that started new fires. It’s the mother of new fires.”"

The heart-warming experience of the town of Lac La Biche, population 3,000, which opened its doors to some 8000-12,000 evacuees:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/albe...rticle30025617/

A story on what's called the "second disaster" -- the flood of ill-considered donations of stuff that isn't needed, but has to be dealt with somehow:
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/nati...8527/story.html

And, here's the concentrated experience and hard lessons learned by the town of Slave Lake, Alberta, which suffered a catastrophic fire in similar circumstances in 2011. I think anyone interested in emergency management and disaster recovery will find this instructive and thoughtful.
http://www.nadc.gov.ab.ca/Docs/Wisdom-Gained.pdf

Thank you for the update and the references - good, solid stuff.

And now, with rotting garbage everywhere, add hungry bears to the mix, just to keep it interesting ...

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-ne...in-your-freezer

[img]https://postmediaedmontonjournal2.files....=630&crop=1[/img]

Epilogue:

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-ne...after-15-months

Fort McMurray — After 458 days, the Horse River fire that destroyed thousands of homes and scattered tens of thousands of people across Canada is finally dead.

Even after the fire was declared under control on July 4, 2016, embers burned throughout the area during the fall. As the days grew colder, it burned underground and remained there throughout winter.

As spring approached, forestry workers began scanning the area for hot spots before they had a chance to burn again. The fire remained underground throughout the summer, Dania said, and did not flare up into a wildfire this year.

“The firefighters would dig down into an ash pit and extinguish where the heat was coming from,” she said. “They were scanning the area for heat from helicopters and keeping an eye on the area.”

The May 2016 wildfire destroyed 1,595 buildings, which includes 2,579 living spaces and 22 commercial spaces. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, it is the costliest disaster in Canadian history.