The spirit of Alberta is one of compassion, giving and unity. When one area of our province is suffering and dealing with the unimaginable, the rest of the province is known for stepping up and taking care of complete strangers as if they lived right next door. This has been seen this past week with the horrific destruction that has occurred in Fort McMurray and surrounding areas.
Over a week ago, what began as a wild fire that was being closely watched southwest of Fort McMurray, quickly turned into something no one saw coming. Sunday May 1st in the early evening, a warning was issued for the residents of Gregoire to be prepared to evacuate quickly should this wildfire hear their way. Within a few hours, a local state of emergency was issued for the Municipality of Wood Buffalo and an Alberta Emergency Alert is sent out informing residents of a mandatory evacuation order for Centennial Park, south of Airport Road and Gregoire.
In the very early hours of Monday May 2nd , an evacuation order was issued for residents of Prairie Creek and Centennial Trailer Park as at this time it was predicted that the wildfire burning outside Fort McMurray would double in size and that the hot and dry weather conditions were adding to the instability in the area.
Tuesday May 3rd the situation finally escalated to the point that Fort McMurray was put under a mandatory evacuation. Residents grabbing their families, pets and a few basic necessities as they fled the inferno that had once been called home. More than 80,000 residents were forced out of their homes, with the uncertainty of where they would go and when, or if, they would ever be able to return.
This incredible fire continues to burn and forced more evacuations of communities such as Anzac and Gregoire Lake Estates. It is reported that approximately 70,000 people have moved into areas such as Lac La Biche, Edmonton and Calgary seeking temporary shelter and assistance since being evacuated on Tuesday May 3rd.
In all of this devastation and heart break, that same Alberta spirit that we saw when High River and Calgary flooded, when Slave Lake experienced their own tragic fire, began to surface. Communities unaffected by the fire from across the province began to ask ‘how can we help?’ and ‘what do you need?’ And with some of the biggest hearts of all, Chestermere joined the efforts to support those displaced from their homes up north.
In our community, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t know someone that works in Fort McMurray, has family in Fort McMurray or has at one time in their life called it home. Immediately Chestermere residents jumped into action – offering their homes, food, clothing and money to either those that had been evacuated or to those that had family or friends from Fort McMurray coming to stay with them.
It would be impossible to list everyone that has contributed since this all started over a week ago, but here are some of the examples of things we heard of that had gone on in our community to help our neighbours to the north.
• Alex Desplanque along with some help from Jennifer Massig, coordinated a supply run up to Fort McMurray. They put the call out via social media of items they were looking for and on May 6th a truck was full and Desplanque headed north to deliver the items.
• Colin Lolacher coordinated a similar mission as he posted on Facebook that anyone wanting to donate items could bring them to the MPP room at the Chestermere Rec Centre. Donations began pouring in and on Saturday May 7th, a fleet of volunteers loaded up two large trailers from Rampage Painting and Repair/ Empire Tyres and the Hardnox Racing hauler, and they headed north. Lolacher posted on social media later that Saturday evening saying “This has been an amazing day! Thank you so much to the citizens of Chestermere and surrounding area, to say you stepped up to the plate is an understatement! From anyone and everyone who donated or stopped by or spent hours this morning organizing the trailers as we loaded I give you my heartfelt thanks. From what started as inspiration gathered from my daughter who wanted to donate her toys to us arriving in Fort Saskatchewan this afternoon to people clapping and some with teary eyes when we opened the doors to reveal the overwhelming amount of supplies this was an experience not to be taken lightly by everyone involved. To sum it up, they were able to shrink wrap 11 full pallets of supplies from what we delivered. No sooner than the Hardnox trailer was emptied, they were reloading it to head up to Boyle for more deliveries”.
• Other local business also began offering their assistance as needed:
• The Ultimate Paw Spa was offering free dog grooming for any dogs that had arrived in our city
• The Best Western Plus Chestermere Hotel began offering a discounted rate for anyone that had been evacuated and needed a place to stay
• Eric’s No Frills began taking monetary donations at their cash registers
• Reid Built Homes announced that they would be taking donations at their offices
• Andrew Marriott, local Franchise Owner of Tim Hortons, announces the Alberta Rose donuts with 100% of proceeds going to the Red Cross that is supporting the relief efforts in and around Fort McMurray. On a bigger scale, Tim Hortons Corporate office released an announcement saying Tim Hortons is making a $100,000 donation to the Canadian Red Cross Alberta Fires Appeal and they have also deployed coffee trucks with brewed coffee and water to assist evacuees, as well as those working tirelessly on the front line.
Other amazing stories of local residents doing remarkable acts of kindness began being heard. A server at a local restaurant paid for a customer’s bill upon over hearing they had been affected by the fires, while another establishment owner paid for a family’s meal once he heard a similar story.
Some of Chestermere’s youngest residents began organizing lemonade stands to help raise money for those impacted by the fires and many other countless acts of kindness that we may likely never know about.
Our residents began answering the call for donations, taking animal carriers to AARCS and the Calgary Humane Society, attending fundraisers and assisting anyway possible to show our northern neighbours that we are here for them.
“Our sympathies and heartfelt concern go out to all those affected by this devastating fire. While we can only imagine the huge impact this is having, and will have in the future, we want all those involved to know our community is thinking about them and we’re ready to help where we can.” said Mayor Matthews.
Mayor Matthews joined her colleagues, the Mayors of Alberta’s Mid-Sized Cities caucus, in expressing solidarity with the people of Fort McMurray and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
As the fire continues and evacuees continue to come south to the Calgary and Chestermere area, many continue to ask how they can help. Keep watch on social media for local businesses that are collecting donations (both monetary and supplies) and also donate via the Red Cross.
There is an amazing all ages event coming up on Friday May 13th at the Chestermere Recreation Centre, a Family BBQ with entertainment and a silent auction will take place from 4pm – 10pm. The cost is $10 per person or $25 for a family. All proceeds will be going to those impacted by the fires in Fort McMurray and surrounding areas. For details you can contact Malkeet Aheer (403-710-8110), Alex Halat (403-874-7098) or Jed Snatic (403-651-0651).
