It’s expected to be some time before residents who were evacuated from their homes in Fort McMurray will be able to return to their neighbourhoods.
The wildfires are still burning and they’re being kept away for safety reasons.
A PEI woman who had been living there since January learned yesterday that her home is gone.
Brittany Fleming says everything they had is gone – their vehicles, their home, the place where she worked were all burned by the wildfires.
She is one of the lucky ones who is staying with friends and she has received donations of clothing, food and a roof over her head.
But for the tens of thousands of others it’s a different story.
“A lot of people are struggling with financial problems. But everybody in Alberta seems to be pulling together – offering their doors for people to stay, food, water and gas. Everybody is just donating,” she says.
Fleming says they’ve been told they’ll be able to go back and assess the damages but that won’t be for awhile.
Many of her friends chose to leave Alberta, heading back to Atlantic Canada and Ontario.
But Fleming says she wants to stick it out as long as she can.
(Photo courtesy Alberta RCMP)
