Tuesday May 3rd, 2016 was supposed to be a day full of fun. It was my baby girl's 6th birthday! My husband got up and headed to work. We woke a couple hours later. The sun was shining, it looked like a beautiful day. I was happy to see the sun as the previous couple of days it was so smokey outside. I sang Happy Birthday as I always do and we got up to start our day!
We went downstairs to open some presents and got ready to head downtown as she was in afternoon kindergarten so we had all morning to hang out and run errands. I promised her that we would go to Teddy Mountain (very similar to Build a Bear) so she could make a bear for her birthday. So off we went. It was around 10am when I pulled into the parking lot. As we were walking into the mall, I was approached by a CBC news crew for an interview (which I have yet to find) . I don't remember the exact questions the woman asked but I think she asked "if I felt safe" to which I replied "yes". We went into the mall, made the bear and left.
As we were leaving my mom texted and said it was really smokey in our neighbourhood of Timerlea. I decided I should probably stop at the pharmacy on my way home and grab my Miss P's inhalers just in case. By the time I got up the hill (maybe a 5-10 minute drive) the smoke was thick. We got the inhalers and headed home for some lunch before school. When I pulled into the driveway, a press conference came on the radio. The fire chief said the weather was making things difficult and the fire was growing. I decided I would pack a suitcase that afternoon just in case.
I dropped Miss P off at school around 12:30PM and as I drove away I noticed 2 huge clouds of smoke. I stopped to take a picture and headed for home. In the couple of minutes it took to get home, the sky had turned an orangey colour. I grabbed the suitcase and started packing a few things for each of us. I figured better to be prepared and I could always just unpack in the next couple of days. My "mom tribe" and I were chatting back and forth, checking Twitter for updates etc when I saw the Mayor post that everyone should have a plan in place. I decided I would go get my kiddo from school early. Something in my gut told me I needed to have her home with me.
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| The smoke I saw just after dropping Miss P off at school |
When I arrived at the school to pick her up, ashes and needles were falling from the sky like snow. I decided we would go home, grab our stuff and head south to Edmonton. I needed to get away from that smoke. I called my husbands work and left a message for him to call me back so I could let him know what was going on.
I started packing up the car and by this point the radio emergency alert is coming on saying some neighbourhoods on the south side of town were on evacuation order. In a mere matter of a couple hours we went from a beautiful sunny day, going about our daily lives to evacuating from our home. Traffic was completely gridlocked. There's only 1 road that leads south of the city and everyone was trying to get out. Cars were driving on sidewalks, people were walking pulling their suitcases behind them. I remember looking behind and seeing fire in the distance. Flames were shooting up the trees behind us. Our friend and his daughter were following behind us. He saw the look of terror on my face and motioned for me to turn around.... I thought for sure that fire would reach us before we had a chance to get out. I put my brave mom face on and kept Miss P busy with her IPAD and movies all the while thinking we would likely die in that truck. It took us 2 hours to get down the hill (a typical 5-10 minute drive on a clear, no traffic day).
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| Gridlocked traffic, cars on the sidewalks |
We headed North as South (the only way out of town) was closed and I needed to get to my husband at work. We needed him to be with us. We stopped at a roadside turnout on the way and needed to fill up with gas and go pee (Thankfully we had a jerry can of gas in the shed that we brought with us or we would've ran out). Also thankfully for whatever reason I decided to bring the full pack of 24 rolls of toilet paper!
At Midnight (9 hours after we left home) we finally made it to my husbands work. (about 30 km's so you can see just how gridlocked traffic was). At that point I had been checking updates on social media and the south exit out of town was open. We decided to turn around and head south.
The drive through town was devastating. Fire burned on both sides of us. Miss P was so worried about the animals. Non of us closed our eyes that day/night.
At 5AM we reached the nearest gas station outside of town (about 200KM's away). We were running on empty by now as was most everyone else. People were driving up from other communities with gas cans, offering gas to anyone who needed it. The kindness of strangers was truly remarkable.
We finally made it to Edmonton at 12NOON. 20 hours after we left our home. The kindness of strangers is something I will never ever forget about that day and the days that followed. Complete strangers were offering food, shelter, clothing. In the worst situation, people were coming together to help in any way possible. Many of my friends lost their homes that day. It's a day that changed us all. Our stories are all different. This one is mine.
3 years later I still can't believe it really happened. It's a miracle we all survived. While we were running out, first responders were running in. I think we all will be forever grateful for everything they did that day and in the days and weeks that followed.
Moral of the story: Your life can change in an instant. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't hold grudges. Forgive. Be Grateful. Be Thankful. Don't take things for granted. Do what makes you happy. Hug your loved ones. Tell them how much you love them. Spend as much time as you can because we never know what's going to happen from one minute to the next.
