Updated May 11, 2016 at 1:50 p.m.
On May 3, Ritchie Tom looked out his window and didn’t notice much smoke, but about an hour later, he noticed it was getting a lot smokier and decided to turn on his scanner.
The notice sent out stated that a voluntary evacuation had been suggested for residents of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta. Then an hour later the evacuation suggestion became an order. It was mandatory now for him and his wife Christy to evacuate. They rushed around gathering their important documents, and they managed to pull together a small suitcase of clothes.
It was an emotional time as he and his wife loaded up the truck and trailer to begin the hellish journey out of town with fire all around them. Ritchie said it took them two hours to drive two blocks due to a traffic jam caused by many others getting out of town as well.
He said the police were letting 50 vehicles go through at a time, for safety reasons.
“It was like the end of the world,” Ritchie said.
It was so hot and smoky that the pair couldn’t open their truck windows, and they couldn’t use the air conditioner. And they could only see about 20 feet in front of their vehicle.
He was worried about the truck catching fire from all the sparks flying through the air, and was quite stressed out, he said. There was only one way out and 88,000 people trying to evacuate at the same time. He said it was a nightmare.
They decided to drive to his place of work to fuel up, and he really appreciated his boss for giving them diesel and gas, which helped them get to the next town. He said it normally takes 35 minutes to drive to work, but on that day it took five hours.
They drove to Syncrude and camped for the night and in the morning had the opportunity to leave. Along the way he said there were burned vehicles all along the roadside. The two finally made their way to Edmonton, where they are staying with a family member of Christy’s.
Ritchie said he was overwhelmed with the generosity of so many people who came forward and offered places to sleep, eat and pick up personal items.
Right now Ritchie is not sure what their future holds. He is waiting to learn if his house is burned down and whether or not he will have a job when they return to Fort McMurray.
Ritchie and his family are feeling tired, emotional and relieved, and are grateful they made it to safety.
Ritchie asks everyone to pray for the people of Fort McMurray and for the town.
Original story below:
Doreen Skibo, a Tla-o-qui-aht member living in Terrace, B.C., was worried sick about her son Tyler Tom, brother Ritchie Tom, sister-In-law Christy Tom and cousin Ricky Tom, who live in Fort McMurray, Alta. where a devastating forest fire caused the evacuation of more than 80,000 people.
Tyler Tom is 23 years old. He left B.C. to live in Fort McMurray to find work there due to shortage of jobs here at home.
On May 2, Tyler and Ricky Tom were not given much notice to evacuate their home in Timberlea. They did not have time to pack any clothes or other needed items, and had no money to buy gas or food.
Once they left home it took them 10 hours to drive to Anzac, a trip that normally takes four hours, but due to the high volume of traffic with vehicles exiting Fort MacMurray it took much longer.
Leaving their home was a terrifying experience, Skibo told Ha-Shilth-Sa. Sparks were flying everywhere and evacuees felt lucky that no vehicles caught on fire during their escape.
Tyler kept in constant contact with his mother while making the trip out of Fort MacMurray, which was a huge relief for Doreen, just knowing they made it out safely.
Cousins of Tyler, Ritchie and Ricky pooled together money to send to help them buy gas and food. They were exhausted last night, not having slept for 41 hours. Tyler and Ritchie drove in separate cars to Anzac, and then decided to travel to Edmonton to stay with Christy’s family there. At this time it is uncertain if and when they can return home.
Ritchie, Christy, Tyler and Ricky took yesterday to themselves. They received a pass to go to West Edmonton Mall to have some fun to relief the stress of their ordeal.
Ha-Shilth-Sa hopes to speak with them today, and will update our readers on everyone’s condition.
