There's A Little Bit Of Fort McMurray In All Of Us

When you see the images in Fort McMurray, Alberta, you see pure devastation. It's been called a catastrophe, an apocalypse, an inferno, a horror movie, a multi-headed monster, a worst kind of nightmare—whatever you want to call it, this massive wildfire looks like pure hell.

And you watch the images on TV and social media, and hear what people are saying who have lost everything, and hear their distraught fire chief and exhausted firefighters, and you can feel their pain. Everyone is safe so far thank god, but man the destruction you see is almost unfathomable. And you look at that community of Fort McMurray and then you look inward a little about the stuff you have—your own house, belongings, car, family, pets, community.

[photo above via @cbc]

Fort McMurray's population is pretty darn similar in size to Peterborough, and you see the impact this fire is going to have there on homes and businesses and schools and infrastructure and such. Ten thousand hectares have been burned, over 1,600 structures destroyed—and there is no sign the damn fire is abating. 

The whole community has been evacuated, like around 80,000 people—and a state of emergency has been called. And you're just thinking, This is nuts. Absolute nuts. Unimaginable. It can't be happening. What can be done? How can we help? How do we fix things?

[photo above via @cbc]

Peterborough went through a devastating flood in 2004, and we remember first-hand what it's like to see a community go through so much destruction. The national spotlight was on us back then, and Canada got behind this city to help however it could.

But when you look at Fort McMurray, you're like, Holy Shit. You wonder about what the tens of thousands of people forced from their homes into work camps and temporary shelters will have to go back to. And you wonder, what the heck can you do? That's what a lot of people are talking about right now. 

[photo above via @StormhunterTWN]

The Canadian Red Cross needs all the donations you can give, but you also just want to load up your truck or vehicle and drive to Alberta and help these people. Just hug them even. It's hard not to feel their pain. Their nightmare doesn't end tomorrow or the day after. They're living it in this moment.

The rebuilding will happen, sure, but right now all you can see and feel is the destruction. And your heart hurts for them.

—By Neil Morton

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