Fort McMurray: stories from the frontlines of firefighting

[A giant fireball is seen as a wildfire rips through the forest along Highway 63, 16 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, Alta., on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward]

The raging wildfire in Alberta has displaced almost 90,000 people from the Fort McMurray area and destroyed at least 1,600 houses and buildings.

Now at 161,000 hectares and still growing, about 500 firefighters, including members of volunteer brigades and a unit from Mexico, are still trying to keep damage, particularly the city’s infrastructure, to a minimum. They have been working round the clock for seven days. Some firefighters can barely walk and some have temporary blindness from the smoke.

Stories are now emerging from the frontlines of the blaze. Here are five amazing accounts of grace under pressure:

[‘Everybody I work with has been holding me up and I’ve been holding them up, so I’m in the company of heroes’ says Capt. Adam Bugden. CBC NEWS]

Capt. Adam Bugden, his voice breaking and tears streaming down his face, said in an interview with CBC News, he’s “met more heroes in this experience than I’ve ever thought existed.” He’s seen many firefighters who have lost their own homes who keep on working. The nine-year veteran with the Fort McMurray fire department mentioned that he had also worked three days with only eight hours of sleep but that other firefighters went 40 hours straight with no sleep. “I’m no hero,” he told CBC News.

[Firefighter Jamie Germain trying to save his twin brother’s home. FACEBOOK/Mel Angelstad]

Firefighter Jamie Germain tried to save his twin brother’s house. Part of a crew of Suncor firefighters trying to protect a bridge, they noticed a few houses on fire in Parson Creek and drove over to help. One of the houses belonged to Jamie’s twin Scott, who was on the other side of the city (he’s a Fort Mac firefighter) trying to save other peoples’ homes. According to Jamie Germain’s colleague, Mel Angelstad, they couldn’t save the home and Jamie kept the hose on the house even as it was in cinders. Angelstad shared the photo on his Facebook page. Scott said he had about five minutes to digest the information when he got the call.

“I cried. I called my wife. … Then we got back on it,” he told The National Post.

The Germains are a family of emergency workers. Older brother Nick had recently been a firefighter with Suncor, their father had been a volunteer firefighter and Scott’s wife Michelle is a 911 operator.

[Triplets Lucas Ryan, left, Emily Ryan, second from left, and Abby Ryan, right, are pictured with their stepmom Melonie Matthews-Ryan in this undated handout photo. Emily Ryan, 15, died in a car crash on Wednesday while evacuating Fort McMurray. FACEBOOK/Chelsi Ryan]

As Cranley Ryan — the deputy fire chief in Saprae Creek, east of Fort McMurray — was out saving people’s homes, his daughter, Emily was trying to flee to safety in a car on Wednesday. The 15-year-old didn’t make it, dying in a car crash along with her stepmother’s nephew. Soon after her death, crews spent the night protecting her family home — those crew members lost their own homes while trying to save the Ryan home. Emily was a triplet, with brother Lucas and sister Abby.

“She had this big book collection downstairs that we’re very happy to know that, as of yesterday, it is still there,” her other sister Chelsi told The National Post.

[Firefighter Mark Stephenson with his burned down home behind him. THE TORONTO STAR]

Collingwood, Ont., native Mark Stephenson arrived with his firefighting crew on the street he lives on with his wife and two children to see a fire just six metres from his own home. His neighbour’s fences were already ablaze. He got into his own garage and chopped down the wood fences to prevent the fire from advancing. He then wielded a fire hose to suppress the flames. The water ran out so he grabbed his garden hose but to no avail. Stephenson recorded the last seconds of his house burning down. And then he turned around and worked a 23-hour shift.

[Terry Carnochan, centre, pictured with his two firefighter sons in this undated photo. FACEBOOK/Terry Carnochan]

The Carnochans are keeping it a family affair. Tracey Carnochan fled the city last week with her son’s two dogs and is now safely ensconced in St. Albert, near Edmonton. She left behind her husband, Terry, and her two sons, Tyler and Ryan, who are all firefighters. Terry is with Suncor, working as an industrial firefighter, while her two sons are captains with the Wood Buffalo fire department. On Thursday, she was relieved to get a picture of her spouse and two sons standing together as flames rose up behind them. They told her the house was still standing. Carnochan told the Regina Leader-Post that she can only sleep a few hours a night: “All I can do is sit here and worry.”