Weather

Lisa

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
We got the mandatory evacuation order for everyone to leave our town at around 11 PM. The fire had jumped the river and was heading our way. I had already been doing some packing so grabbed the rest of what I thought I might need plus some sentimental things (what do you take if you think your house might burn?).
Took us an hour and a half to actually get out of town. Normally would take 5 minutes, tops. But we could only leave via one road and all 7500 people had to ho that way. Long story short, it normally takes 1.5 hours to get to the city, it took me 4. Got here at 3 AM. OH was in a different vehicle, he had to stop along the way to help out with the local gov’t getting things organized. Bad thing is that he had Simba. Poor pooch. He managed to get him out of the car a few times and give him water. He should be here soon (it’s now 5 AM).
For now the town is safe but they had to get everyone out just in case.
@Jelinga there are always fires in the spring and sometimes in fall but I’ve never seen it thus bad. We had 44 fires start in a 24 hour period. There’s 75 I think burning right now. Lots of places under evacuation. My town is the biggest place right now that’s had to evacuate.Like I said earlier, it’s going to be a really difficult couple of days.
Once OH gets here (and Simba!) I will go to bed!
 
Stacia

Stacia

Location
Malvern Worcestershire
What a terrible experience for you all, I do so hope the fire is stopped. You are so brave. I feel quite sick thinking of what you had to go through and what you are going through :hug:
 
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Jacqui-S

Jacqui-S

Moderator
Location
Fife, Scotland
Oh Lisa, how awful.....you will be glad to have Simba and OH with you.
I'm sure many prayers will have been said.
Sending positive vibes your way, and any rain we have you are more than welcome to.
:hug:
 
Lisa

Lisa

Moderator
Location
Alberta, Canada
We are safe and the town is safe for now. Really dicey yesterday as strong winds pushed the fire right to the edge of town, but thankfully they shifted and basically the fire moved around the outskirts. It’s still classified as out of control and it’s windy again today, so if it shifts back towards town it would again be very tense. That being said, there are a lot of acerages/ranches all around the town, including in the area the fire is in so people’s homes are still threatened. I believe that one home burnt just south of town yesterday. There are now around 100 fires burning and another town to the west of us with a population of 8000 was evacuated yesterday. As well as a rural/industrial area just east of Edmonton, where I am now. The fire that is around Drayton Valley (my town) is the highest priority in the province right now as it is the one most threatening to people. So lots of resources being thrown at it. The power in town was off for a few hours yesterday as a transformer blew somewhere but they got it going again, thankfully! Lots of people who have cameras etc on their houses have been checking up on things remotely and it was stressful for them not to see what was happening. A close friend of mine was just outside the initial evac zone and so was still there yesterday but got the order to evac yesterday afternoon. Their place is to the west of DV so could be threatened depending on where it goes.
No rain forecast until Sunday. If we do get some rain we might be able to get home on Monday, assuming the fire doesn’t destroy anything in town.
I spend more time than I should updating news feeds and checking social media posts to see if anyone knows what is happening in town but basically am ok. We have our condo here and are able to enjoy seeing our kids so that is nice. Was able to catch up on some sleep last night which I needed after that stressful night on Thursday.
Just took Simba out for the morning walk and he’s enjoying a snooze! image.jpg
 
Stacia

Stacia

Location
Malvern Worcestershire
Lisa said:
We are safe and the town is safe for now. Really dicey yesterday as strong winds pushed the fire right to the edge of town, but thankfully they shifted and basically the fire moved around the outskirts. It’s still classified as out of control and it’s windy again today, so if it shifts back towards town it would again be very tense. That being said, there are a lot of acerages/ranches all around the town, including in the area the fire is in so people’s homes are still threatened. I believe that one home burnt just south of town yesterday. There are now around 100 fires burning and another town to the west of us with a population of 8000 was evacuated yesterday. As well as a rural/industrial area just east of Edmonton, where I am now. The fire that is around Drayton Valley (my town) is the highest priority in the province right now as it is the one most threatening to people. So lots of resources being thrown at it. The power in town was off for a few hours yesterday as a transformer blew somewhere but they got it going again, thankfully! Lots of people who have cameras etc on their houses have been checking up on things remotely and it was stressful for them not to see what was happening. A close friend of mine was just outside the initial evac zone and so was still there yesterday but got the order to evac yesterday afternoon. Their place is to the west of DV so could be threatened depending on where it goes.
No rain forecast until Sunday. If we do get some rain we might be able to get home on Monday, assuming the fire doesn’t destroy anything in town.
I spend more time than I should updating news feeds and checking social media posts to see if anyone knows what is happening in town but basically am ok. We have our condo here and are able to enjoy seeing our kids so that is nice. Was able to catch up on some sleep last night which I needed after that stressful night on Thursday.
Just took Simba out for the morning walk and he’s enjoying a snooze! View attachment 36989
Click to expand...
I have been thinking of you and also checking on news in your area. A horrible situation for you to be in, hope it does rain soon and all will be well.
 
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