I drove back from Fort McMurray yesterday after being evacuated from one of the oil sands sites located about 30KM north of the city. We were lucky to make it out when we did, as they closed the roads about an hour after we left our camp.
The drive from Fort McMurray to Edmonton was pretty crazy, and took about twice as long as it would normally, partly due to traffic, and partly due to the number of cars stuck on the side of the highway without gas. It took us about 3 hours to move between Wandering River (the first gas station after Fort Mac) to just after the Lac la Biche turnoff. There were literally hundreds of cars waiting at Wandering River to get gas.
Anyways the point of my post is to highlight the people who were standing alongside the highway supplying motorists with everything from food, water, fuel, diapers, and baby food. It was great to see the generosity of these people, who were standing outside on the side of the highway in 32 degree heat, to help people make it out of Fort Mac. About every 10km we saw a group of people doing this, and I just wanted to share my experience. There were also numerous people who lived near the highway offering to take people in who had to be evacuated.
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