Massive Fire

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On Tuesday, a city of almost 90K people eight hours to the north of me was evacuated. A very large wild fire covering 800 square miles had shifted direction due to the winds and started to threaten the city. Within hours, districts in the city were ablaze. By morning, 1600 buildings in the city were destroyed.

Videos I have seen are horrific. Fires on both sides of the road people were using to evacuate, sparks and burning embers landing on the road and the vehicles. The airport itself was under threat of fire and some portions of it were burning as well. Traffic was at a crawl and many people ran out of fuel. Water bombers were being used to protect vital infrastructure buildings.

Most of the evacuees used the highway to the south which leads to larger centers, but thousands went north and are now cut off. By morning, fuel tankers were providing fuel to those who had run out and regional airlines were flying 737’s and Dash 8’s to oils sands camps airfields to evacuate the people that had arrived there.

Amazingly, to date, there have been no fatalities. Praise is being heaped on everyone as the evacuation was orderly and the people very patient. People with spare gas were giving it away, others were handing out water. By morning $11 had been donated by fellow Canadians, all Federal Members of Parliament have dropped the normal political infighting and are rallying together to provide help.

This particular fire is so big that it is creating its own weather system, creating lighting storms which are creating more fires.

But, there are 49 other fires burning in the province and other evacuations have been ordered. Another big fire in the neighboring province of British Colombia is crossing the mountains to add to the problem.

Videos of the city rival the scenes we see on the news from war zones, complete devastation, burned out vehicles, streets with only debris filled foundations where once vibrant communities stood.

My province has now suffered losses in all three of our major industries. Last year’s drop in oil prices, then the eastern half of the province had massive crop losses due to drought conditions. This year is proving dryer that last and now the fires are threatening the forestry industry. Oil production has now dropped by 600K barrels per day as the oil sands projects north of the fire have shut down.

None of this will be rectified overnight. The ramifications of this fire will be felt not only in Alberta. Much of North America obtains their oil and gas from Alberta. The people of Alberta have been almost single headedly propping up the Canadian economy. Many people from across the country came to Alberta for jobs, jobs that are no longer there. Those that had ridiculed and criticized us are about to find out what happens when we are not there. When the food we produce is no longer available, the donations in time and money we make to everyone will be gone. The products and services we purchase will be curtailed.

As we have done in the past, we will rebuild. We are resilient people, tough people, self-reliant people. We have to be. Past governments care little about us and as is very evident this week, Mother Nature is never to be taken lightly. From blizzards and floods, droughts and fires, this not the first time we have suffered nor will it be the last.

Wars are devastating, but can be stopped or never started. When Mother Nature decides to strike, there is no choice, only survival or death. We will accept your help and thank you for it, but we will survive, for that is what we are, survivors.

Next year, we will be back, giving once again, where we can as much as we can. For that is who we are.