Fort McMurray firefighter eager to go back and help

Matt Sidney, a firefighter from Sydney, N.S., managed to escape the Fort McMurray wildfires Tuesday night. But now that his family is safe in Edmonton, he's ready to go back and help on the front lines.

"I was very relieved to see that they were able to get out but at the same time it's hard to leave your community and watch the devastation and the loss that people are dealing with," said Sidney in a phone interview with CBC News Wednesday.

Fire 'moves pretty quickly'

Sidney and his crew started fighting the fire after the first calls for mandatory evacuation were ordered. He's fought other big wildfires in northern Alberta in the past, but says this was the biggest he's ever seen.

"It was a lot of move here, move there and then the wind changes and the fire whirls around and it moves pretty quickly," he said. "The fire was encroaching across the highway, crowning across the trees."

Overwhelming fire

The firefighter says crews worked hard to tame the blaze in one of the worst hit areas — the Waterways neighbourhood — until the conditions got so bad they had to pull out.

"But we moved out of there and just went to other areas to see if anything was involved and see what we could do."

A 'tough' choice

When he got word all of Fort McMurray was being evacuated, he had to make a "tough" decision: stay or go.

He only had one hour left before he was being replaced on his shift, so he decided to leave town with his wife and 10-month-old daughter. The family reunited on a highway overpass.

"I ran, jumped in and they we got in the traffic line to Edmonton … it took about seven hours. People were very courteous," he said.

Good people on the ground

Now that he knows his family is safe, Sidney is ready to turn around and head back to the fire.

Sidney says he's been in touch with his deputy fire chief and some of his commanding officers. He says he wants to find out if they have enough resources and how he can help.

"It's pretty hectic but a lot of good people are on the ground doing good work."