Volunteer firefighters who have gone to Fort McMurray to help out have mostly only been able to recharge their batteries between tasks, said Sundre's fire chief.
“I don't know how many calls we've been dispatched to, it's non-stop,” said Marty Butts, one of the local responders who decided to head north on Friday, May 6 with four others from the Sundre Fire Department.
He spoke by phone with the Round Up last Thursday, May 12 during a break between calls.
By then, the pace had somewhat slowed down and the volunteer crew was mostly dealing with the aftermath, on the lookout for flare-ups and ensuring the blaze remains out in the perimeter around Fort McMurray by building fire guards and deploying sprinklers, he said.
But the story was quite different when they arrived the week before last. Cars were strewn in ditches along the highway, and the closer they got to Fort McMurray, the more abandoned vehicles the volunteer firefighters saw, he said.
While some people had a chance to prepare before evacuating, many who fled were forced to leave in such a hurry they did not have time to fill up their vehicles, which eventually ran out of gas, leading the occupants to seek help from other passing motorists, he said, describing the situation as “unbelievable.”
Seeing people forced to flee with little more than what they had on their backs was devastating, he said.
“It's a weary feeling — it's a ghost town.”
Just about the only people in Fort McMurray are emergency responders and the authorities, who are maintaining order and will facilitate the eventual return of the city's 88,000 residents, he said.
During those first few days, Sundre's crew — as well as others — barely had a chance to catch its breath.
“We went from one wildland fire to a house fire to whatever was the need,” said Butts.
“The first few days, we'd get up at 6 a.m. and shut down at 11 p.m.”
Seeing the partially melted and blackened husks of possessions like children's bikes and toys hit the fire chief hard. Losing everything is tough enough for an adult to come to terms with, but children have an especially hard time grasping such overwhelming loss, he said.
“It's devastating to see.”
The fire chief originally deployed with four other members — Nicole Toth, Rob McBride, Jordie MacDonald and Alex Clews — who have since returned to Sundre while another four volunteers — Kurtis Doyle, Mark Brodie, Dave Bennett and Matt Hill — went back up. Butts remained throughout the duration for two back-to-back tours and planned to return over the past weekend.
There has been very little rain, and what little precipitation did come down barely washed the dust off of the trucks, he said.
The hectic pace of the first tour has slowed down during the second tour, and the volunteers from Sundre have mainly been dispatched to keep an eye out on potential hot spots in collaboration with other fire departments as well as wildfire crews from Alberta's Agriculture and Forestry department, he said, taking a brief pause during the interview to respond to his radio.
Their days have gone to about 12-hour shifts from roughly 16 hours, which is a huge difference but still makes for a long day, he said, adding the crew catches some rest when it can between calls.
“You can take breaks, but you never know what you're going to next.”
The main objective as of last week when Butts spoke with the Round Up was to secure the city with the Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development department.
Trained in both structural and wildland fires, Sundre's volunteers have been able to take on a multitude of tasks, he said.
Fire crews have been going about 300 feet into the “black area” around Fort McMurray — where the fire has come and gone leaving the landscape scarred and charred — to secure the city, he said.
“People want to get back home.”
After some long days, Sundre's volunteer firefighters were also looking forward to returning home.
“I'm hoping to get my guys back home and in our regular routine again and be around for local calls. It's been a long tour,” he said last week.
As of Monday morning, the fire chief told the Round Up that all the volunteer firefighters had come home.
The response from Albertans in the wake of the devastating Fort McMurray wildfire has been impressive. From other volunteer fire departments sending up crews to residents gathering food, supplies and donations, people have really stepped up, he said.
“Everybody's pulling together; it's pretty awesome to see that.”
Sundre's fire crew has been working hand in hand with water truck drivers as well as Cat and backhoe operators from the Fort McMurray area who have not been shy about expressing their gratitude, he said.
“It keeps you going — those pats on the back are awesome. They appreciate what everyone's done. They're amazed by all the help.”
Although the fire chief steered away from getting politics involved, he said such a disastrous wildfire is a loud wake-up call for communities surrounded by forest to be as prepared as possible for such a catastrophe and further drives home the importance of having in place something like the FireSmart initiative, which he has largely spearheaded for Sundre.
“I don't want to see something like this happen in our community,” he said.
Across the province, there are many municipalities in forested areas, and “I think a lot of people are going to get on the FireSmart program.”
Such an initiative helps enormously in the event of a wildfire. Even if the protective FireSmart measures do not outright prevent a wildfire from starting, they will at the least reduce the blaze's chances of quickly growing beyond responders' ability to control, he said.
“We've got a bit of a fighting chance when a community is FireSmart compared to a community that isn't,” he said, calling the difference “night and day.”
Visit www.sundrefiresmart.com for information on the local initiative to take protective measures against the potential of wildfire in Sundre.
As of this weekend, provincial officials reported that fire conditions remained extreme in Alberta and that the Fort McMurray wildfire, which was estimated to cover about 284,000 hectares, remained out of control. There were 15 wildfires burning, with three out of control. There were 1,919 firefighters, 161 helicopters, 377 pieces of heavy equipment and 29 air tankers battling the fires.
The provincial government has made available emergency funding for evacuees, and according to a press release expects to be able to share the re-entry plan within the coming week or two.
“Last week, five conditions were identified that need to be in place for the safe re-entry of Fort McMurray residents,” Premier Rachel Notley said over the weekend in a press release.
“Work has been progressing on all these fronts, in some cases faster than expected. But this remains an active fire zone, with significant air-quality concerns that may delay recovery work and a return to the community. Public safety remains our first priority.”
