Fort McMurray

On my way to help fight the fire. Started 50 miles away, then stopped 15 miles away, and I'm currently waiting on standby.

 

Be strong, and be safe. You are dong the right thing, be smart and cautious. My family and I got chased out of Glacier National Park several years back when a wildfire blew up to consume over 60,000 acres in a few short days.

 

Take care. Thanks for helping. :thumb

 

Thank you JK. Stay safe!

The boreal forest has evolved to rejuvenate itself through forest fires, however the conditions from BC through to Manitoba this year have been atrociously dry. We have been breaking temperature records in Canada that go back over 100 years... Not just one or two days, but for many weeks throughout multiple cities.

In mid April, we had a swing in Fort McMurray from 23F to 81F which seemed to kick things off... We may see 80+ degree weather normally in June/July, but this is quite unheard of for northern Alberta in April.

I'm concerned about southern Alberta as well, being involved in the Calgary flood of 2013. I returned from work in Fort McMurray then to find our entire neighborhood of Mission in ruins. The outpouring of support was entirely heartwarming, and probably the best part of the circumstance was the connections made amongst neighbours. I'm already seeing this happening in Fort Mac... People like you inspire others and make our communities better.

 

This is something I've considered doing in the future as a career. Take care dude

 

Stay safe

 

We hit 90F yesterday in Manitoba, which is unheard of for us this early in the year. Just a couple nights ago it dipped below freezing.

 

I wholeheartedly thank everyone for their support, and I know Ft. Mac does too. After 36 hours without sleep on standby, the city of Fort McMurray was deemed unsafe for anyone other than First Responders. With a heavy heart I was asked to board an evacuation jet yesterday afternoon, and I'm now back at home. The authorities are still finding people in their homes willing to fight until the end...

@Mikoss my friend and co-worker perished in HIgh River Alberta during the 2013 floods. I'm still amazed and thankful that there have been no fatalities or serious injuries in the immediate area of the fire. Outstanding job by the men and women on the ground and in the air !!!

I have to commend the oil companies for pooling their resources and doing whatever it took to get people and pets safely home. I work on a Suncor site, and they had 5 jets taking off from their private Firebag runway every hour since the day before yesterday, with the commitment to keep going until every last person was safe and acounted for. I had to fly from Shell's Albion runway because I left the Suncor site to get closer to town to help. Shell allowed me on their 737 jet without question or delay. Not everyone agrees with the way BIG OIL run's their business, but they did everyone right in this situation.

C-130 finished offloading supplies as we were taxing to the runway



Final shot

 

Stay safe!

 

I don't know what to say. Water ripped through our city in December 2015, taking quite a few lives and devastating many others. We suffered, but our home is still standing and we still have 2/3 of our stuff. Still, I can't conceive of what it must be like to go through a fire like that.

Wishing you well

 

We've had some significant smoke hazing up our Big Sky here in Montana for a few days now...we're about 800 miles away!

 

I was evacuated to Calgary where my car was parked, and drove home to Billings yesterday. I was shocked how much smoke there was once I was on the east side of the Montana Little Belt Mountains, I thought there was a local forest fire... No hits on Google regarding anything local. Even Billings is covered in a fair amount of haze.

 

Glad to know that you are safe. And that you still have a car.

Hope not too much is lost.

 

Shit. You live in Billings? We gotta meet in Big Timber for lunch sometime.

It'd be a yuuge meet for Montana!

 

I'm the same JK47 from the "Big Sound 2015", the first victim...lol

I'm moving to Southern California in June, but I'm home for the next few weeks at least. Don't know when I'll be going back to work...

 

Yeah, I remember, just didn't remember you were from Billings.

I'm actually busy as hell until July (Canlanta, Newport show, personal vacation). Probably not going to happen.
I'll see you down the road somewhere, for sure.

 

In Indonesia fire happens annually and stretches over a span of 1~3 months, and we get affected here (neighboring country Malaysia) as well. With the high humidity the smell of smog lingers on, you'll see people lining up in clinics, wearing face masks, etc.

No fun, but we are getting used to it.