Wildfire Disaster

[Dave Howard]

My wife and I had to make a choice yesterday to quickly pack up what was truly important to us. I love my MkIV but it didn't even enter my mind as we evacuated the town of Fort McMurray, Alberta due to a fast approaching wildfire. Sadly, friends and colleagues have lost their homes as approximately 2,000 buildings have been consumed so far. The fire continues to rage. 88,000 people forced to evacuate.
The Cobra has a healthy insurance policy to cover any loss. Not the way I envisioned a second build. Our NEST thermostat is reading 23C on my iPhone so I'm assuming the house is still standing.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/in-fort-mcmurray-firestorm-all-that-matters-is-find-your-loved-ones-and-get-out-alive

[JL1958]

So sorry Dave. I was just watching this on our news station. Glad you got out safe.

[carlewms]

Dave,

We hope fir the best for you, your family and neighbors. The fire must be extremely dangerous and unpredictable.

Carl

[Jstanding]

I hope for the safety of your home, those fires scare the hell out of me. I will certainly keep you in my thoughts

[prophet]

Glad you are safe. Cars can be rebuilt. Let's hope they get the tide turned on that fire and soon.

[WIS89]

Dave-

I hope you and all the others are safe, and loss of property is mitigated. I cannot imagine how difficult this is for each of you!

My thoughts will be with you all during this time. Hang tough!

Regards,

Steve

[GoDadGo]

Dave,

While I have never met you, I can kind of understand the stress that you are going though. (Katrina / August 2005)
Good Luck & May God Be With You & Your Entire Community!
Things Can Be Replaced But It Is Still Tough!

Steve (GoDadGo)

[Bob Cowan]

We went through the same thing a few years ago. We loaded the most important "things" into our truck - pictures and momentos. The Cobra stayed in the garage. Our house was spared, and our lives went on. But I watched homes go up in flames from my bedroom window. It was one of the saddest things I'v ever seen. My heart is with you.

[GoDadGo]

We went through the same thing a few years ago. We loaded the most important "things" into our truck - pictures and momentos. The Cobra stayed in the garage. Our house was spared, and our lives went on. But I watched homes go up in flames from my bedroom window. It was one of the saddest things I'v ever seen. My heart is with you.

I don't know how you all deal with the "Wild Fire Threat!" It's like the folks in Tornado Alley. I know this will sound silly, but at least we can track Hurricane's so that we can figure out when and where to run to.

[Courtnie Provencher]

So very sorry to hear that you, your family, and everyone else up in Alberta are going through this right now. I hope everybody gets out safe and that the fires get controlled soon. Hang in there, sending best wishes up your way!

[chopthebass]

Dave,
Can't imagine having to urgently evacuate. You probably have irreplaceable personal stuff. Another car can be built but that's probably last thing on your mind.

[NAZ]

Sorry to hear about your evac -- but glad you & your wife are safe. I also live in wildfire country and live with the threat every spring. We live in the world's largest Ponderosa pine forest and have our go-bags ready as this is the start of our fire season in Northern AZ. We keep the truck & horse trailer ready to evac us and our critters at a moments notice. Six years ago we had a devastating wildfire that scorched ~15,000 acres behind our property. And then to rub salt in the wound our monsoon season hit and brought the floods as there was no vegetation left to slow the rainwater runoff from the mountain we live on. Our house made it through as the air tankers bombed it with fire retardant. It's tough but keep the faith -- the firefighters will work hard to save property and with a little luck you will be back in your home soon. The important things you have already taken care of. Our thoughts and prayers.

[Norm B]

Glad you made it out OK. I think it is a miracle that there wasn't more casualties from this. Stuff can be replaced. We have donated already and will again when what's needed becomes more clear.

Norm

[hmoody98]

Just echoing the sentiments of everyone here. Glad you made it out ok!!

[Bad Moose]

Glad your ok! I hope the fire spares your house and the belongings you left behind.

[carlewms]

Dave,

Have you had any news on your home?

[Jester]

Dave, I am glad to see all have been evacuated safely and everyone is ok.

Speedy recovery to you and your community.

[adubbelde]

We live surrounded by the Black Hills National Forest The climate here is Semi Arid. Fire is always a concern. There have been a couple of major fires close this spring. We are still in the building process but we are attempting to follow the Firewise guidelines.
Dave, I hope you keep getting those positive readings from your NEST.

[Dave Howard]

Thanks for all the well wishes. The Provincial fire service said today, "the beast" could burn for months. A dry winter followed by insane hot dry temperatures this spring has lead to a very dangerous fire situation across much of the boreal forest of northern Canada.
The community of Fort McMurray (88,000 people) remains in a state of mandatory evacuation. The regional Fire Chief gave a press conference today stating 2,400 structures (homes) have been destroyed. We are not expected to be able to return to our homes for a month. PHEW. The fridge is going to be insane. All infrastructure has been saved. The fire is no longer a major threat to the city as it has burned most of the fuel around the perimeter and has moved to uninhabited forest area to the east. I've been securing assets at work and plan to join family close to the Rockies tomorrow. My sons MkIV build in his garage will be much needed decompression.

Http://www.google.org/crisismap/2016-fort-mcmurray-fire

[Mesa Mike]

Hoping for the best for you and your family.

[Mesa Mike]

Dave...how about an update?

[cChrisM]

Dave,

Hope you and the family are doing well and safe.

Thought I would share some info from the insurance side of this event, As a broker I place reinsurance for wildfire coverage. This fire's loss notification just increased by $600m and approaching $2.8b in total insurable loss and it's being estimated it may go as high as $5b or higher depending on the model you look at. There are also two high-value oil sands energy assets which have been treatened by the fire and 8,000 workers taken off site. This is a big one.

[CraigS]

Dave we need an update please.

[j.miller]

Dave's not here man.....sorry, heard Cheech and Chong the other day.

[Martin]

Dave's not here man.....sorry, heard Cheech and Chong the other day.

I haven't heard that since the eighties! Thanks for reminding me. It will be in my head for weeks now.

Hope Dave and family are ok.

[geogeer]

The fire hasn't been threatening the city for a little while now. They are still in the process of making sure the main infrastructure is safe for the evacuated people to return (gas, power, etc...) I believe they are starting a staggered return for people starting June 1st.

[AC Bill]

Praying Dave is one of the lucky ones..and his house is still standing when he gets back there.

As of today that fire is still out of control. It has burned an enourmous amount of land. 578,621 hectares. One hectare contains about 2.47 acres, so roughly 1,430,000 acres have gone up in smoke...so far. Even with some cooler wet weather recently, there's nothing man can do to stop it. It's very sad that fire wasn't hit harder, before it ever grew to the monster it became.


Here's today's fire map.
http://wildfire.alberta.ca/wildfire-maps/documents/firemap.pdf

[Dave Howard]

As cChrisM states, it's a big you. And depending on wind conditions it will threaten oil sand producers for some time. Two major producers (totalling 700,000 barrels/day) were shut down and people evacuated from their sites a couple of weeks ago. They won't be back in operation for at least another week. The fire consumed an 800 bed work camp and came close to taking a 3,700 bed complex.
I work for Shell and we have been up and down a few times since the onset. I must say I am extremely proud to work for a great company and can't say enough good for what they have done for their impacted employees and any resident that came to site as part of the initial evacuation. In the first 4 days of the evacuation, we housed and fed several thousand people in our work camp. We airlifted 8,000 people and their pets to safe shelters in the south. We provided fuel to people who were short and food to the First Nations communities who were running low. The list goes on.
Our home is still standing and it appears we haven't lost power for more than a few hours at a time. Some poor folks survived the fire only to have the houses blown up after natural gas service was being re-established. CRAP. I've become numb to the news and stories of the losses. Before moving to Alberta, we lived in a small town in Northern Ontario where I was a volunteer fireman for 10 years. Your feel the loss of a neighbours house. The loss in McMurray is overwhelming.

Our local, Provincial and Federal governments have been doing a great gob. We have been told we should be able to start a staggered return beginning June2. Rebuilding will take years. Since starting this reply a few days ago, we have received some rain and it appears the fire has slowed. As stated by others, the immediate area around Fort McMurray is safe from further fire. Most of the readily combustible forest is gone, and green belts in those neighbourhoods not affected have been bulldozed. Air quality varies with wind conditions.

After logging 25,000 in the MkIv over the last two summers it looks like she's going to be taking a bit of a break this summer. Since completing the build, I've been anxious to build another. Maybe it's time to put the FOR SALE sign on the windshield at the next car show and do another.

Helping to "Hold the Fort",
Dave

PS: Thought I'd share some humour. We ran into a colleague from work in Edmonton. She's 40ish with two boys about 8-10. The conversation moved along to the strange items people pack before evacuating. Her face turned red and she said the boys helped pack before they quickly left McMurray. Once in Edmonton, while unloading her vehicle she found the boys had packed her box of "special toys" from her bedroom. �� Another reason why you should carry extra batteries in your emergency kit.

[CraigS]

I am glad to hear that it looks like you and yours will be spared. Best wishes from down below.