Edmonton work site explosion.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Kiya - here in Canada there are bears in my own yard! My yard in that I live beside an Eco Park and bears love being in the cover of trees. They are common in Canada but typically they avoid humans (Unless the humans are hanging about garbage dump sites that bears just love to frequent cause of the food).

Highly doubt in a Ft McMurray worksite that Roy would ever even see a bear. Landscape is too open.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@Kiya - Is Roy still in Fort McMurray and if he is is he going to be evacuated? Not too sure where his work is in conjunction with residential housing and the town but just wondering if the fire is affecting him at all?

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-n ... t-mcmurray

Fires are a yearly occurrence here. Very interesting to watch the water bombers filling up on a lake where they just skim the water to load the tanks.

[Kiya]

Yes speaking with him just now, he is still at work (night shift) all shifts have been cancelled, he's been told to stay put.

He said families are turning up at his work place, roads are blocked & he has no where to go.

Scarey stuff!.....he's keeping in touch as I speak.

[Kiya]

Roy is now back at the Athabasca Lodge just where the road crosses the river Athabasca between Fort McMurray & Fort McKay.

I see it on Goole Maps

He's trying to keep in touch as long as he can.

[LovelyLadyLux]

He'll be ok if they're back to Athabasca. Every year we get these #$@%# fires and they're a pain cause there is nothing anybody can do except wait until they're out. I'm amazed we have any trees left at all and when you hear the stats they always sound quite incredible when they say thousands of hectares have burned.

Tell Roy to stay put and keep safe. Won't be too long and he'll be back at work. Think of all the stories he'll have of how he experience the REAL Canada!

[Mad Dilys]

I often think of you and your son Kiya. I'm glad he keeps in close touch, it helps a bit, but being separated from loved ones when they are in potentially dangerous situations is nerve wracking and most parents I think worry about their children anyway when separated no matter how old or capable they are.

[Kiya]

Thank you both

Yesterday I was on tender hooks all day, kept myself busy as much as possible.

Roy has been able to keep in touch all the time thankfully & well out of danger at Athabasca Lodge some miles north of Fort McMurray.

From this end his work has told him to sit tight where he is at but, on saying that Roy tells me they can see the flames in the distance, something we are not used to & is scarey stuff.

Taking everything into account they say it only happens in 3's , since being there he had the blast out at the work, a near miss with a car pile up accident due to heavy fog last week....Roy managed to slam the brakes just in time & then these horrific fires.

Hopefully he has had his share now & will not forget his experience in Canada.

I really feel sorry for all those caught up in it & those families that have lost everything.....it's horrific .

[Grandad]

I have been watching those fires on TV Kiya, absolutely horrific and frightening. Good that Roy is able to keep in touch and allay your worries. He will certainly have some stories to tell about his time in Canada. Hope he continues to stay safe.

LLL, if these fires are a regular event, would it not be possible to cut some significant 'fire breaks'?

Kiya, just had an afterthought, did Roy take a camera? Hope he will have some pics that you can share on here.

[Kiya]

Thank you Grandad ...Roy has not budged from Athabasca Lodge, his work back here has told him to sit tight where he is at & so far out of danger.

The latest I've heard from Roy is folks been told to go south from Fort McMurray, I can just imagine everyone trying their best to get on the road out.

I cant imagine this being a yearly thing with nearly a whole city wiped out with fire.....its horrific to see peoples homes, cars etc etc burnt out.

Grandad I'm not sure if Roy has taken any photos, it didn't even enter my mind but, I will ask him, he hasn't a camera with him but the week before he left he bought the newest mobile, I forget the name but I know it has No 7 in the name & is gold in colour so I would expect good quality photos from it.

[Grandad]

Sounds like a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, probably the best smartphone on the market. Even better than I phones. I only have a Galaxy S3 but that is a super phone so goodness knows what they have done to make the S7 so very good.

I do understand you can even make telephone calls with it.

[LovelyLadyLux]

When I say fires are a yearly event I mean that soon as the rain stops and the weather turns dry + wind fires can pop up anywhere in the Province and do. The land mass size is phenomenal so they can't ever cut enough back and there is never ever any knowing WHERE a fire will start.

The tragedy of Fort McMurray is that it is basically at the end of the line meaning there is only one road that goes in and out and there is no option to drive anywhere else. You can get a bit further north (where Roy is) but there isn't much else there. I believe the airport is safe however my guess is that Roy will ultimately be helicoptered out.

Now that the fuel is gone people are stuck and some of the places (Anzac) they've been moved to are now burning as well so people are having to be moved again. The roads are clogged with cars and trucks trying to get out, there are no gas stations or shops or anything on the road. It is wilderness with nothing just miles and miles of road. Same problem with getting fire equipment IN. Unless it is there and unless there is sufficient fuel having it is useless.

This size evacuation has never happened in Canada. About 10 yrs ago when my youngest was in University there were fires. She and her gf went to a wedding on the weekend and were evacuated and had to drive through miles and miles of smokey roads in a convoy following RCMP. Pretty scarey as most of here is just wilderness and if fire is moving fast it just pops up here there and everywhere. The little town where the wedding was at was wiped out but where she was living in the City of Kamloops was ok.

Last year here I had fire all around me. Was so hard to breathe as the air was just full of smoke. That was the reason I had this house washed this past March.

A state of emergency has been declared, the Canadian Red Cross is there to offer aid to the evacuees and I can see on the TV News that many of the cities to the South have set up centers to house those displaced. Thousands who work there are now flying home. One lady has offered her 40 acres to anybody who managed to get out with their trailers or campers to set up free on her property. I can take a family here if there is need but there are many offers IN province.

Roy will definitely have lots of stories about this one and good to know his "3" is now over!

The forecast isn't good. There is no humidity in the air and the plan right now is to try and contain the fire, keep the fire fighters safe and hopefully it will burn itself out. The fire fighters (about 1200 only) are working approximately 18 hour shifts.

[LovelyLadyLux]

@ Kiya - Now they are talking about those workers who have been evacuated NORTH (about 10,000 workers from the Oil sands). They're saying these people are safe. They are definitely isolated and cannot get south. There isn't info on the supplies they have but they (TV NEWS) think they have sufficient supplies. Apparently the Canadian military will be looking at this and determining if they need to bring in supplies for them. The message for all those workers moved further NORTH is that they have to be patient and just wait until the situation changes.



Sounds like Roy is quite ok and out of any danger. He just needs to sit and wait. Hope he can get lots of reading material on his new phone. From the sounds of it he'll be there for a few more days minimum. I'd personally gues-timate he'll be there a week or so.

As I said the Canadian military is involved - Princess Patricia Light Infantry is going to respond once the fire lessens and will be charged with clean up.

This is a level 6 fire (beyond the skills of some professional fire fighters) and the military can only go to a level 3 fire. The military has helicopters in the area and is flying over to monitor. Other Search and Rescue is coming in from neighbouring provinces and they're going to be delivering food and services to those who have been evacuated North of Ft McM. Have no doubt that Roy will be looked after quite ok. Probably his worst problem is is that he'll get bored just sitting about with nothing much to do.

[Kiya]

Grandad I think your right with Roy's new mobile, when I saw the price of it I just told him " you've got more money than sense " but it is a great looking phone.

He hasn't any photos, he says there is nothing to take but on the other hand if I know my boy he's not taking photos of others suffering. He'll may take some when its all over

LLL thanks so much for all your info, your right Roy is getting bored with no work to go to & nowhere to go, as far as I understand from him he can go no further North or he'd be in the water.

There's no problem with food supplies so far, I'm sure I would here it from him if there were.

I'm not sure about the airport as far as it goes with Roy's info nobody is getting to the airport either.

Hopefully it will all end soon & get back to normality as soon as possible

[LovelyLadyLux]

I was just over at my daughter's house and her next door neighbours husband is in Ft McMurray. He told her that they're busing people out but taking only the women and children first. He also said that most people don't have sufficient gas in their cars to get them out and to the next gas station which is hours away on isolated roads (when I say isolated there is nothing there - just trees). As electricity is disrupted it means credit cards are not accepted so you could only get gas if you had cash.

Most of the guys working in the oil sands are ok as they're North of the fire and the wind is blowing from the north to the south and hence taking the fire in the opposite direction.

Nothing really new since this morning. Will post immediately if there are any updates.

[Kiya]

Thank you so much LLL

Just been watching on the news here that Fort McMurray sealed off & 300 sq mls burning, it really looks awful

[LovelyLadyLux]

Watching the late TV News and unfortunately the size of the fire has grown tenfold. The experts are now saying there is no way the Firefighters have any ability to stop it - only rain will.

Now many of those evacuated are starting to filter home. The Island has been getting a few men from the Oil Fields returning home here. The couple they tried to interview declined saying they really do not have any words to describe the devastation and described themselves as numb from their experiences. One man said he only had 5 minutes to gather what he could and leave before the fire came.

Since April 1st there have been approximately 200 wild fires start in this Province. That figure is a bit high compared to other years but every year in my own memory we go through hot summers full of forest fires.

Roy will be fine in Athabasca. It is something like 200 miles north of Fort McMurray so he is well away from the fire zone. He is experiencing the worst fire disaster in Canada's history. Unfortunate way to experience Canada.

[Kiya]

I heard it on the radio this morning the fire has grown much bigger.

The last I heard from Roy 1.00am this morning they got a notice saying they have to be moved, there is around 2,000 where he is at & it is women & children first.

He certainly isn't going to forget this experience in Canada.

Thankfully there is around 13 of them altg from back home here, I'm glad he is with people he knows

[Kiya]

This is the distance from Roy to & from work.........Athabasca Lodge


Sometimes they are at Syncrude.

[LovelyLadyLux]

I thought he was at a lodge at Athabasca Lake So long as he is north of Ft McMurray it'll all be good and just a matter of time until they can get everybody out of the area. Today from here where I am there is a company flying huge helicopters there to aid and help.

The evacuation has been extremely orderly and so far I believe there has been no loss of life directly related to the fire which seems to be moving south. Weather reports are saying there is no rain in site for another few more days and it is only going to be rain that will put this fire out. In the meantime it just keeps growing Lots of discussion about climate change and relating it to this and other fires.

We've had Prime Minister Trudeau on the morning news talking and he says he is committed to giving everybody involved any support that is needed.

It will literally be years until this community can re-build. It is so far north and there is nothing there and nothing even particularly close for anybody to even live there while they rebuild. They will have to start at square one.

[Kiya]

Yes same here , just heard the Prime Minister speaking.

Also heard temperatures to sore tomorrow.

The latest from Roy he is waiting to be picked by bus & taken to Edmonton, they are booked into a hotel there.

What they do after that I dunno, just have to wait & get more info from him asap.

It really is a dreadful mess.