While thousands of people wait to hear if they’ll be allowed to return to their homes, one New Westminster woman is calling on her neighbours to show their support for the residents displaced by the Fort McMurray fires.
Alison Golosky’s grandfather moved to Fort McMurray when he was just 11 years old, long before industry set up shop. Golosky herself was born in Fort McMurray, along with her five sisters, and when she first heard about the fires she had no idea how bad the situation really was.
Both Golosky’s parents and her sister and brother-in-law still live in the city and a few days before the evacuation, Golosky got a call from a friend asking how her parents were doing. While she had recently spoken with them, she called anyways just to check in.
“I said, ‘How are you?’ and my dad said, ‘Oh, we’re fine, we’re home relaxing,’ and I said, ‘What about the fire?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, you can tell it’s a little bit smoky, but we’re just keeping the windows closed,’” she recalled.
By Tuesday, May 3, however, the fires had gotten a lot worse. When Golosky called to get an update, her parents were in the middle of packing, waiting for the evacuation order. Once the order came down, her parents, sister and brother-in-law headed to MacDonald Island, a park in the middle of the city. That’s where Golosky figured they would stay until the fires passed through the city – but that was just their first stop.
“They ended up at Syncrude, and that should be a 30 minute drive, and it took them three-and-a-half hours, and that was the last I heard from them and it was Tuesday night,” she said.
For the next few days, her family moved from place to place. Her sister and brother-in-law eventually made it south past the fires. Unfortunately, by the time they made it out, their house was gone – they lived in Beacon Hill, a neighbourhood south of the downtown area that’s been destroyed by the fire.
“I think for them, it was very quick, too, because from the time the evacuation order to the time they left was very quick, my sister was at work, she didn’t have time to go home to get anything. Her husband picked her up and they got into their vehicle and basically (fled),” Golosky said, adding the only reason her sister made it out was thanks to someone who offered them fuel for their vehicle on the side of the highway.
Her parents, meanwhile, headed south a few days after the evacuation.
“It was three days from the time my parents evacuated til the time I actually heard their voice on the phone,” she said. “It was pretty amazing because I knew they were OK at that point.”
It’s now been more than two weeks since residents were ordered to leave their homes. Golosky’s parents, sister and brother-in-law are now staying with another sister in the Edmonton area. Neither couple knows when they’ll be allowed to return to Fort McMurray. Golosky has sent them gift cards so they can buy some essentials while they wait.
“Maybe because it’s my family, but I do feel so far away, and I think that there’s also a feeling of, ‘well, it’s happening over there,’” she said. “It’s one thing to get away from the danger, but it’s another thing to have absolutely nothing and to have to start from scratch.”
Golosky is urging people to donate to the Red Cross. For every dollar donated until May 31, the federal and Alberta governments will match it.
“It was such a great place to grow up, it was almost idyllic because you had this community that attracted people from all over the world and yet it was small enough that everybody knew everybody, there was a sense of community, you knew who your neighbours were,” she said. “I don’t think a lot of people have that picture of Fort McMurray.”
