A few Maritimers have made it home safe after the wildfires in Fort McMurray, while others have taken refuge in work camps and nearby communities.
Blair Mullen was one of the lucky ones to make it out of the blaze, arriving in Halifax Wednesday morning.
“It was coming right towards (Highway) 63, the back of our shop, and two o’clock the owners told us to shut down, and we left,” says Mullen.
Others who weren’t able to make it home to the Maritimes are still at the outskirts of the flames, with loved ones at home in a state of worry.
Vicki Hutchison’s brother works at the Syncrude Site, 40 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.
“He said he can’t get out, but I don’t know if he can’t get out because the roads are blocked from the fire, or work just isn’t stopping. We’re still not knowing, it’s kind of scary,” says Hutchison.
It’s even scarier for Maritimers to watch their relatives in Fort McMurray during this time, as pictures sent via cellphone and social media are constantly being updated.
Hutchison’s brother wasn’t the only one stuck in Alberta. Many haven’t been able to make it out by air because flights were already booked by crewsbeing rotated out.
Jason Cooke, an oil patch worker who was able to make it home safe, says the fire generates as much fear as heat.
“It’s scary, happens pretty fast, it’s so dry up there too, and fire does a lot of damage, and it’s scary,” says Cooke.
Rob Ryan, another oil industry worker who flew home to the Maritimes, says he worries most about co-workers who were forced to flee north of Fort McMurray.
“There’s nowhere to go north, you can only go so far, and that’s it, so they basically have themselves trapped either north, or not being able to go south,” says Ryan.
The survivors of the Fort McMurray flames are happy to be back in the Maritimes, but also worry about what will happen to their workplaces or second homes out west.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ron Shaw
