I will throw this in here just because; but, I read a story in the herald the other day that indicated that apparently 40 new fires were detected over the long weekend - the story suggested that many of these fires were started by abandoned campfires - wtf is wrong with people - do they live in a complete vacuum where nothing but their own activities register?
presumably the number of new fires would have been much higher if it had been a rare warm dry weekend
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If I do not come back avenge my death
Not a fire casualty, but a guy I went to high school with was killed in a car accident just north of Edmonton on the weekend. His 12 year old son was also seriously injured in the crash. All of this on top of losing their home in Abasand.
Condolences. That is really sad. A house can be rebuilt and is nothing compared to losing a loved one. Hopefully his son pulls through wishing their family all the best.
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Air Canada has a 777-200LR flying from Toronto to Johannesburg right now to pick up 300 more firefighters for the fire. It will fly up to Edmonton to drop them off. I'm curious if that flight will be nonstop?
That would be one long flight at ~8400nm! I thought I head read yesterday that it would stop in Barbados on the way to YEG but don't recall where I saw that.
Location: Close enough to make a beer run during a TV timeout
Exp:
Looking at my numbers, the 777-200LR has a range of 16,000 km, and it is 15,616 km from Johannesburg to Edmonton. It would have to stop somewhere just to be safe.
Kinda related, just found out that the fire fighters from South Africa will be staying with us up at camp. Glad our company is letting them use the space, I have a feeling none of them will be waiting in line for dinner for very long ha-ha.
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Saw my friend Margo yesterday, she lost everything in the fire. Her house is gone. She's one of the ones who will not be returning. She'll go back and get her car that was left behind in Dickinsfield, but her home in Abasand was totally destroyed. She has insurance so she'll be ok in that department, but she's beyond upset about the irreplaceable things she has lost.
The Fort McMurray Giants were supposed to make their WMBL debut in a new ballpark a couple days ago. They are instead going to play the season in Edmonton, alongside the Prospects:
Brutal, habernac. Hopefully the rebuilding of her life goes well.
She's putting on a brave face, but I can't imagine. Luckily, she's in a great situation for the summer. Her family has an amazing place in cottage country in Ontario where she will spend the entire summer. Her grandfather built it in 1936, sounds like a terrific spot to unwind after a very stressed spring.
Kinda related, just found out that the fire fighters from South Africa will be staying with us up at camp. Glad our company is letting them use the space, I have a feeling none of them will be waiting in line for dinner for very long ha-ha.
They seem a cheerful bunch.
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I might have missed the discussion, but any reason why the Firefighters from Johannesburg are coming and not from somewhere...closer? Are they specialised in fighting these kinds of fires? Why them?
I might have missed the discussion, but any reason why the Firefighters from Johannesburg are coming and not from somewhere...closer? Are they specialised in fighting these kinds of fires? Why them?
According to the news this morning, this is an existing, ongoing relationship and the South Africans were here last year. This year just gets the attention because of Ft McMurray.
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What's remarkable is they were just on a 20 hour flight (pretty much two 10 hour flights with a fuel stop) and they're still this full of life. I work at the airport and see how crabby people are after 45 minutes from Calgary...
What's remarkable is they were just on a 20 hour flight (pretty much two 10 hour flights with a fuel stop) and they're still this full of life. I work at the airport and see how crabby people are after 45 minutes from Calgary...
They aren't crabby from a 45 minute flight, they are irritated they have arrived.
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I might have missed the discussion, but any reason why the Firefighters from Johannesburg are coming and not from somewhere...closer? Are they specialised in fighting these kinds of fires? Why them?
I also heard there is an ongoing relationship with them and they did some training here last year so they know what the conditions will be like.
I also wonder if part of the reason is that it's winter in South Africa right now, so maybe they can spare them easier than some places? My friend's son is a forest firefighter in Saskatchewan and they aren't sending any because the risk there is too great right now.
