On this date four years ago, around 88,000 people had to evacuate as a wildfire threatened Fort McMurray.
When all was said in done, 2,579 properties were destroyed and a community was changed forever.
The fire, later called the Horse River wildfire, would end up as the costliest natural disaster in Canadian history.
However, the community has been able to rebound and around 75 per cent of structures have been rebuilt.
Unfortuantely, Fort McMurray currently finds itself having to recover from three seperate situations – a crash in oil prices, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent flood that impacted the Lower Townsite, Waterways, and Draper.
Around 13,000 had to evacuate, many for the second time in four years. Monetary donations can be made to the Canadian Red Cross.
As many in the community remember the events of four years ago, we can’t forget that many still haven’t recovered and some are reliving the same nightmare.
In just a week, the community has once again come together to support those in need.
Volunteers rushed to protect the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre, all types of donations were collected to help impacted residents, and some housed others who needed a roof.
These are just a few of the examples Fort McMurray has seen over the past seven days.
Undoubtedly, we’ll continue to see more in the coming days and weeks.
We may not have recovered from the wildfire just yet, but the community is continuing to show YMMStrong wasn’t just a one time thing.