Just an FYI to anyone who wants to help but a number of organizations (including the federal government) are matching red Cross donations to the Alberta fire crisis dollar for dollar. So, for example, Canadians, if you shop at sobeys you can make a $5 donation, which sobeys will match, making it $10. The government will then match the you+sobeys contribution and your $5 donation becomes $20.
So sad to hear about the car accident. I guess it was inevitable that there would eventually be fatalities associated with this in one way or another. My heart is with the families.
I hate to be THAT person that revives a dead thread (sorry), but here's bit of an update for those who want to know what's going on. I heard the press conference this morning. The fire has grown a bit, not as much as the day before, but the wind hasn't been as strong. Wind was from the NW yesterday, which pushed the fire away from Ft McMurray towards the south, and wind is from the SW today, so it'll still be moving away. There are still fires burning around the city, but they've saved the hospital, airport, water treatment plant, and some other infrastructure and neighbourhoods. They have 5 military helicopters monitoring the fire in the sky, especially at night. Yesterday, with Westjet and Artic Air and the military, they moved 8000 people from the oilfield camps, they hope to move 5500 more by air today. They are also moving by car, in 50 car groups, down highway 63. They are escorted by RCMP, one in front and one behind, and two helicopters overhead with each convoy. They hope to move several thousand cars this way from the oil camps down to Edmonton. They'll be driving right through Ft McMurray. I assume the police escort is to keep things flowing and also to prevent people from leaving the highway and going into the city. They started at 6am, and it seemed to be going well. I think they hope to have most evacuees out of the camps in the next few days. There were about 20 000 people evacuated to the camps. The Red Cross has already received several million dollars, I believe, in aid for the community.
Are their any other GBCNers in this area? I hope everyone and their homes are staying safe. Watching the devastation on the news is absolutely heart breaking.
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I live just outside Edmonton. It is amazing how much this city, this province has rallied for these families. We have been volunteering our time as much as possible and have donated to a few food drives. People are being housed all over right now. The rumour is that they probably won't be able to return home for a few months.
They are currently working on moving all the people that evacuated north down south to the Edmonton area and beyond. They are doing this via planes and convoys. They led approx 500 people through the fires today south. It will take about 4 days to evacuate everyone from the northern camps.
The city is shut down. No one is allowed in without special permission. It's so sad but once again so amazing on how much this province has rallied.