Massive wildfire in Fort McMurray destroys buildings Largest Evacuation.

CTV will also be doing a live broadcast, hopefully somewhere south of the departure area.

There are also videos available now from people on the road in this link:

www.ctvnews.ca...

ETA:

The RCMP are escorting 50 vehicles at a time southbound on Highway 63, with pilot cars at the front and rear of the line and four Griffin helicopters following overhead to watch for threats. An estimated 1,500 vehicles are lined up to make the drive through the city, to about 20 kilometres south of it. Vehicles are not allowed to stop for any reason along the route, the RCMP said in a news release. All intersections have been blocked off so no one can make a wrong turn along the route.

Here's the Reuters story.

I think this is one of most heartbreaking parts:

Some of the evacuees, who have spent days on roadsides and at oil sands camps north of town, did not know whether the fire destroyed their homes. Most have few possessions with them, and some left pets behind.

Imagine not knowing if your home is still there at all and knowing you left your cat or dog behind for whatever reason ... That would kill me if I'd had to do it.

originally posted by: masqua
It has been my question from the onset as well. Chances are that it was human caused and we will find that out eventually. It could be as simple as someone tossing a lit cigarette butt out of a moving vehicle. The conditions there are prime for fires at the moment.

I worked up there in the bush back in the 70's. We smokers were told to smoke only 'roll-yer-owns', as they go out by themselves if not smoked. We were also informed that if a fire occurred...we'd be doing initial suppression. The point was not lost on us.

a reply to: JohnnyCanuck

Having spent a lot of time in Northern Ontario, I know the point you're making about smoking. 'Ready-made' cigs were banned and all that was allowed were rollies.

The fall-out from that was that many who smoked the rollies never went back to the ready-mades, because comparatively, the rollies tasted far better, were cheaper and lasted a bit longer. They do go out very quickly, though, so a good lighter is needed.

We were told to also 'field-strip' the smokes, tearing the paper and rolling it into a little ball and dispersing the remaining tobacco on the ground after making sure there is not even a chance of a smouldering ember.

On the evacuees, quite a few who have made the journey through Fort Mac are starting to tell stories of their trip south. They're available on the different live feeds already mentioned above. Some are very sad.

Here's some photos of the destruction in Fort Mac:

www.cbc.ca...

a reply to: masqua

wow, looks like a war zone..on the news they said the fire will be twice as big today....

a reply to: research100

Expected to be 2000 Sq. Kilometres or, about the size of NYC plus a third.

This fire is FAR from over and the winds are switching out of the south, blowing the fire into the forest to the east.

It is heartbreaking to see.
It's just overwhelming to even think about how someone would come back from something like this, I mean where do you start in rebuilding?
Should they even rebuild?

I have to say that while I admire the determination I've heard from many that they want to go back, I'm not sure most of them actually will. I mean, what's the point in rebuilding your life there if there's the likelihood of this happening again in a few years time when the forests have returned? We know that weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable and our environment is becoming increasingly unstable (no debate needed over whether it's man made or not, we know for a fact it is absolutely happening) so the chances of this happening again have increased considerably.

originally posted by: Rocker2013
It is heartbreaking to see.
It's just overwhelming to even think about how someone would come back from something like this, I mean where do you start in rebuilding?
Should they even rebuild?

I have to say that while I admire the determination I've heard from many that they want to go back, I'm not sure most of them actually will. I mean, what's the point in rebuilding your life there if there's the likelihood of this happening again in a few years time when the forests have returned? We know that weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable and our environment is becoming increasingly unstable (no debate needed over whether it's man made or not, we know for a fact it is absolutely happening) so the chances of this happening again have increased considerably.

It's heartbreaking, no doubt about it. My husband backed out of an oil sands job (just too remote for him to be comfortable there) We would have been one of the families evacuating Ft McMurray if he hadn't

They'll rebuild. I foresee a greater commitment in the future to keeping the forests near inhabited areas freer of dead/aged trees. From what I understand, that hasn't helped at all, there's so much old & dead wood up there that it's fueling itself with extreme ease. That's not to say it wouldn't have burned anyway, but it may have been a lot easier to manage if it had less fuel ready & waiting for the flames.

globalnews.ca...

5-year-old boy’s lemonade stand raises $2,500 for Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees

Five-year-old Alexander Tuck spent his Saturday afternoon running a lemonade stand in a plaza outside Toronto, with the proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross to help those affected by the Fort McMurray wildfire.

There's been so much help from everyone. There's still lots of really good people in the world. 💕

a reply to: Dumbass

That is heart wrenching to watch, and stunning at the same in it the absolute fury and quickness of the fire.

One thing that bothers me (my criticism of the media coverage) is the over use of "oil sand" in the reporting. The oil/energy industry developed in that area of Canada due to the abundance of oil. Thousands of jobs were created and energy costs kept low (from the oil produced in North America). The media cover makes it sound as though it's the OIL SANDS burning causing the firestorm, when the fuel of the monster fire is dry timber and dead undergrowth that would burn (in drought conditions like SW Canada is experiencing) if the main industry were computers, shoes or poultry. The oil sands are NOT the cause...yet I fear, the industry (that supported the 88k who evacuated) will be blamed, causing the area to not rebuilt and restart (great paying) oil operations. It's like punishing the communities a second time.

All that said, kudos to how the Canadian government is handling this tragedy. And prayers for healing of those who lost so much.

I wish I could send them our rain......thoughts and prayers

a reply to: Rocker2013

After the fires are out, is the safest time for a community to rebuild. The firestorm burned the dead trees, underbrush that fueled the original fire, thus making future burns like this generations away. Controlled burns, down by skilled forestry personnel PREVENT wildfires as break lines are created and dry, dead timber is destroyed.

Droughts happen, but how land is actually managed (for fire prevention) can be controlled by man.

I haven't read through the entire thread yet as I'm getting ready to go to sleep but just wanted to add what I've experienced through this evacuation.

The fire seemed to come so fast. At around lunch time on Tuesday all was great and there seemed to be less smoke than the previous days and I had assumed it was under control. Having lived there for 5 years I've been through many smoky days.

It was about an hour and a half later things turned quickly. I told my girlfriend to come home when she could as things were looking a bit iffy. I'm a pretty laid back person, but I started getting nervous at this point and started packing a bugout bag (just in case).

Voluntary evacuations started taking place, followed by mandetory in some areas. I could see the smoke starting to billow up and I quickly realized this had turned sour. My girlfriend didn't want to leave work as she was trying to finish up some stuff she had been working on and had on boss on her to get it done. It was about 2pm when I told her "f**k your job and get home now!"

We gased up the truck and packed our bird as well as some stuff we thought we'd need. By this time our area had a mandetory evac. We sat in bumper to bumper traffic starting about 5 houses down the road. We waited and listened to updates on the radio as the ash rained down.

We were evacuated north. Sitting at a standstill in traffic at one point I could see flames behind us near the Athabasca river ( nothing like what you likely saw on tv however ). This made me quite nervous and I envisioned grabbing the bird cage and the two of trying to outrun the fire on foot.

To make a long story short. We stayed at an oil sands camp about an hour and a half north of fort mcmurray. It took about six and a half hours to get there. We stayed there until we were flown to Edmonton on Friday.

Sadly there wasn't much info on the news for us evacuees. We didn't really know what to do. Had we not had friends in the know. We likely wouldn't have even know about the plane or where to go to get it.

I can most likely fill pages of what we've been through in the last week with the lack of supplies and such.

What I do REALLY need to say is how amazing everyone was. There were a few jerks on the road and panicked people but that is to be expected. The majority of people were extremely courteous. Everybody at the northern camps were unbelievable. They went above and beyond to make sure everyone was fed and comfortable. I cannot say enough good things about all of them.

We are currently in a hotel room in Edmonton trying to get our next game plan going. Even here everyone is amazing and just want to help.

I'm sure I left a lot of stuff out but this is already longer than I intended.

This is a terrible event taking place, but has absolutely restored my faith in humanity!

Here is a picture I took on my phone standing outside my front door at about 1 o'clock on Tuesday just before evacuations started happening


Sorry. I'm on my phone and can't figure out how to add my picture. I'll add it shortly if I can figure it out before I fall asleep.

a reply to: Rhodin

Glad you are safe. Following this has been heart breaking. It is nice to hear the stories of people helping people.

a reply to: Rhodin
Glad you made it out ok. Just to give you some perspective, I'm in Central Ontario, and stopped by Loblaws to pick up a couple of things. There was a sign on each till asking folks if they could donate right there to the Red Cross, for Ft. McMurray relief. Everybody's thinking of you guys, and how they might help.

a reply to: Rhodin

I'm so sorry to hear about your trouble. I'm sure it won't be long before they start up relief efforts and donation centers here in the states. We usually do have an outpouring when things like this happen. But right now, people are still trying to figure what would be most needed and all that.

a reply to: Rhodin

Here are the pictures I was going to upload last night. I couldn't add them to my previous post as I have exceeded the 4 hour edit window. Anyway, here they are. Once again this was about an hour before evacuations started taking place.








Rhodin

a reply to: Rhodin

Words fail me. I can only post that the solace is in no loss of life. What a horrific scene.

Stay safe. Please check in as you can. Sending prayers up north.