“I saw on Facebook my house was destroyed,” the 27-year-old said from a hotel room in northwest Edmonton.
It was 6 p.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday when the Westchester Station, Cumberland County native and her boyfriend evacuated their Wood Buffalo home in Fort McMurray to escape a wildfire that’s been burning since Sunday.
“We were both at work – it was a super busy day. It was so beautiful and nice when we woke up. We could smell smoke, but thought it was going in the other direction,” she said.
Partway through the day, Webb’s boss told her there was a voluntary evacuation order in her community. She and her boyfriend headed there to pack some items, and dropped off a coworker on the way.
“We thought we would stay (at our coworker’s) for a little while, but then we started hearing explosions and ashes were falling from the sky like snow. We thought we’d better get on the road.”
Traffic heading out of the city was originally going north to a camp set up for evacuees, but Webb said it was getting full so they were redirected.
“We were driving through thick black smoke. Houses on one side were on fire, trees on the other side were on fire. There was a hotel on fire and a gas station on fire. It took us about two-and-a-half hours to get out of our area, and it normally takes three minutes.”
Even with windows rolled up, smoke could still be smelled.
“People were walking, running and biking to get out. There were abandoned cars on the sides of the roads from people trying to escape the traffic,” she said.
The couple stopped at least once to speak to people to make sure they were okay, and they were.
“Anyone that was out there, people were stopping to pick up,” said Webb.
While on the road, Webb said they were checking in with family to let them know they were safe and where they were. She called family Wednesday morning, as they were still on the road when family at home was getting up for work.
“I’m constantly checking the news,” she said. “It’s crazy. You see it on the news when it happens in other places and never think it will happen to you. Once you’re living it, it’s a nightmare.”
Twitter: @TDNRaissa
“I saw on Facebook my house was destroyed,” the 27-year-old said from a hotel room in northwest Edmonton.
It was 6 p.m. Mountain Time on Tuesday when the Westchester Station, Cumberland County native and her boyfriend evacuated their Wood Buffalo home in Fort McMurray to escape a wildfire that’s been burning since Sunday.
“We were both at work – it was a super busy day. It was so beautiful and nice when we woke up. We could smell smoke, but thought it was going in the other direction,” she said.
Partway through the day, Webb’s boss told her there was a voluntary evacuation order in her community. She and her boyfriend headed there to pack some items, and dropped off a coworker on the way.
“We thought we would stay (at our coworker’s) for a little while, but then we started hearing explosions and ashes were falling from the sky like snow. We thought we’d better get on the road.”
Traffic heading out of the city was originally going north to a camp set up for evacuees, but Webb said it was getting full so they were redirected.
“We were driving through thick black smoke. Houses on one side were on fire, trees on the other side were on fire. There was a hotel on fire and a gas station on fire. It took us about two-and-a-half hours to get out of our area, and it normally takes three minutes.”
Even with windows rolled up, smoke could still be smelled.
“People were walking, running and biking to get out. There were abandoned cars on the sides of the roads from people trying to escape the traffic,” she said.
The couple stopped at least once to speak to people to make sure they were okay, and they were.
“Anyone that was out there, people were stopping to pick up,” said Webb.
While on the road, Webb said they were checking in with family to let them know they were safe and where they were. She called family Wednesday morning, as they were still on the road when family at home was getting up for work.
“I’m constantly checking the news,” she said. “It’s crazy. You see it on the news when it happens in other places and never think it will happen to you. Once you’re living it, it’s a nightmare.”
Twitter: @TDNRaissa
