Members of the Olds Fire Department returned from battling the Fort McMurray wildfires this month and if you asked them to do it again, they would.
They just hope they never have to.
"You want to get up there and help them. You know they would come and help you. If something happened here, they'd be lined up to help Olds. So Olds and all the fire departments did the same thing," Chief Lorne Thompson said May 20.
Firefighters are united by their common service. The natural bond that results from that motivates them to support one another, even if they live hundreds of kilometres away and have never met.
Deputy fire Chief Jason Kjorsvik finds it hard to explain.
"It's almost like a family thing. You see it like it's your family up there because of what we all do. When your family's having problems or you see them in trouble, you want to go help," Kjorsvik said.
The first two weeks of May, municipal fire departments in the county sent personnel and equipment in three groups to Fort McMurray. The first, comprised of 13 people – of which seven were from Olds -- left the evening of May 3 and worked until May 6.
That number swelled to 21 -- five from Olds -- in the second group. They were in the area from May 6 to 10.
The third included 19 – seven from Olds – from May 10 to 13.
Names of firefighters from Olds are not being released by the Olds Fire Department.
Thompson said before deploying to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, ensuring the safety of the community at home was the first priority -- that enough resources were left behind. He said a lot of credit needs to go to firefighters who stayed as well as employers that let volunteer firefighters leave their jobs for a few days and the worried families at home.
"They couldn't have done it without everybody home," he said.
As they travelled north, Thompson described seeing a seemingly-endless trail of headlights on the highway, as close to 90,000 people fled during the mandatory evacuation.
Once in Fort McMurray, they worked to put out structure fires in residential areas that had rekindled, relieving local firefighters who had gone without rest for more than 24 hours. They were quickly struck by the devastation and loss people had experienced.
"It's disheartening. You've just watched somebody's entire neighbourhood, gone," Kjorsvik said.
"You realize what really matters and it's not your car, it's not your house. It's your family, your friends, people. That's what really matters. These situations always remind me of that. Take the time to be with them when you can," Thompson said.
They also noted an eerie silence in the area. Thompson said they eventually shut the sirens off their trucks because with only other emergency personnel present, there was nobody to warn.
Another sight that stood out was the randomness of the destruction. Kjorsvik said entire subdivisions would be destroyed, save for a single house – or a child's backyard swing set -- that had gone undamaged.
As with every major disaster, investigations will be conducted and reports written; recommendations made and lessons learned. Thompson said they will be reading.
At press time, the cause of this fire was still unknown.
"You realize what really matters and it's not your car, it's not your house. It's your family, your friends, people. That's what really matters. These situations always remind me of that. Take the time to be with them when you can." FIRE CHIEF LORNE THOMPSON
