Deer Island natives among those fleeing Fort McMurray fire

Two Deer Island natives living in Fort McMurray, Alberta, are safe and consider themselves lucky that they were not one of the hundreds of families who lost their homes in the conflagration.
"Our daughter Christina and her husband Harlan Cline evacuated their home in Timberlea, Fort McMurray, shortly after the mandatory evacuation order was issued for their residential area," says Christina's father Paul Lambert of Deer Island. He and his wife Jennie are pleased to report that the Clines' property escaped the flames.
Over 88,000 residents have fled Fort McMurray since a massive wildfire started on May 1 southwest of the city. Twelve neighborhoods, including the Clines', were evacuated on May 3 followed by the rest of the city on May 4. An estimated 2,400 buildings have been destroyed, with about 25,000 left standing.
"Initially, the only escape from Timberlea was to utilize one roadway, Confederation Drive, to reach the main Highway 63," reports Lambert. "Prior to receiving the order to evacuate Timberlea, Confederation Drive traffic was at a standstill with evacuees trying to reach Highway 63 from an adjacent residential area, Thickwood. The roadway access to the Highway 63 from Thickwood had previously been blocked off by authorities due to the fire. During that time, only evacuation northward to Highway 63 was allowed due to a fire crossing the highway southward. Since Christina and Harlan were not in immediate danger and there was no access to Highway 63, they decided to wait until the traffic began to clear. This allowed them time to gather additional items to take with them," including their dogs Trip and Shadow.
"When the traffic started moving they found that authorities had just opened Highway 63 for southbound traffic," Lambert points out. "They took the southward evacuation route on Highway 63 and travelled to their camper near Athabasca, Alberta, approximately 160 kilometres from Edmonton and 320 kilometres from home. They were one of the very few fortunate families to be evacuated as they had set up their camper near Athabasca a week before the Fort McMurray fire started.
"As for their home in Fort McMurray, they check it daily by accessing the security cameras through their cell phones," reports Lambert. "So far, they have not seen any damage to their home.
"They both feel great sorrow for others less fortunate as they know first-hand what others are going through. Several years ago Christina and Harlan had lost almost everything they owned in Fort McMurray due to a major apartment building fire."
"Mark Cline, nephew of Harlan and son of Pam and Reid Cline of Deer Island, and Bruce Stuart, grandson of Deer Island resident Vera Stuart, both safely travelled from Fort McMurray to Edmonton and other outbound locations," adds Lambert, who says there are at least two other Deer Islanders who were living in Fort McMurray.
"Christina works within the Regional Municipality of Wood of Buffalo, Fort McMurray, and Harlan works for Suncor Oil, Fort McMurray," says Lambert. "Harlan expects that he will be returning to work within one to two weeks. Christina is unsure of when they will call her back to work, [but] she has been contacted and has agreed to perform voluntary assistance for those returning to Fort McMurray when she is allowed to return."
The Clines have lived in Fort McMurray for over a decade and have a house on Deer Island they'll return to when they both retire. They are among the many who were drawn to the jobs created by the Fort McMurray oil sands boom.

Support for Alberta fire victims
A freewill offering for the Red Cross to assist the Fort McMurray fire victims will be held on Sunday, May 22, during the 7 p.m. gospel concert hosted by John Martin at the Fairhaven Baptist Church.
Premier Brian Gallant reports, "New Brunswickers open their hearts to all those affected by the terrible events transpiring in Fort McMurray. We are also collectively there to support New Brunswickers and their families that have been living in Alberta."
Among that assistance is $75,000 from the province for the Canadian Red Cross; $154,947 collected from New Brunswick Liquor customers; the deployment of a 22-member fire crew from the Department of Natural Resources; Service New Brunswick's assistance in helping New Brunswickers affected by the fires to replace lost documents, such as driver's licenses, Medicare cards and birth certificates; and the provincial government will offer a student loan payment holiday to New Brunswickers affected by the situation in Alberta.