Damian Devenish, who has been living at Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, for the past eight years, is one of over 100 Trinidadians who have been left homeless and jobless since the worst wildfire in Alberta’s history broke out about one week ago.
Last Tuesday, Devenish, 39, was at his Timberlie home, which is located one kilometre away from where the forest fire broke out, when he received the evacuation bulletin that the entire town of about 83,000 residents had to be evacuated immediately.
Fort McMurray is in the heart of Canada’s oil sands country and the region has the world’s third-largest reserves of oil.
As much as a quarter of the country’s oil production has been halted by the fire, raising concerns about the effect on the Canadian economy. There are warnings the blaze could burn to the edge of a facility run by Suncor Energy but officials said the risk of damage was low.
Devenish, originally from Lange Park, Chaguanas, is permanently employed at Syncrude Canada Limited as a heavy equipment operator.
Currently housed in a caravan miles away from Fort McMurray, he told the T&T Guardian yesterday he was worried about his home, his personal belongings and his prized racing car which he left behind.
“I think my house survived, not 100 per cent sure as yet but I can’t get back to town for a few weeks,” Devenish said.
Recalling the last few moments before fleeing, Devenish, who packed only a week’s supply of clothes and his personal documents, including his passport, in his SUV, described the situation as chaotic.
“I saw people abandoning their cars and running with their shirts covering their faces because the heat was so intense that their cars started to melt.
“I saw a man abandon his truck, back up his caravan off his truck, took his wife and new-born baby, a dog and a bag of dog food and drove through the grass to avoid the traffic and to escape,” Devenish said.
“I thought to myself how lucky I am to come out alive but I was also thinking about how many friends who lost everything and the only thing they had were the clothes on their backs. I ended up giving some of my clothes to people who did not get time to pack,” he added.
In the past week, Devenish has been house hopping by friends in Calgary and Edmonton and for the past three nights have been staying in a mobile home.
“Thousands are homeless, jobless and many of them have lost everything in the fire. Right now, at least 1,000 vehicles are seen parked along the road as they are said to be running out of fuel. The nearest gas station out of town is 200 kilometres away. It is very grim,” he said.
“There are dozens of water bombers and helicopters with water baskets also trying to help the hundreds of fire fighters on the ground to put out the fire. I am seeing people setting up tents alongside the highway as they either have nowhere to go or ran out of fuel or their cars overheated or just that they are exhausted. The fire is still raging out of control,” he added.
Devenish said he was in touch with his mother, who is in T&T.
“She is very worried but I assured her that I was about 700 kilometres away from the fire so, she calmed down a bit.”
Asked how he was coping, Devenish replied: “The whole of Canada has been extremely helpful. We are getting either free or cheap stuff for Fort McMurray residents. Restaurants, hotels, gas stations, everywhere we go we are getting help.”
The last damage assessment estimated 1,600 structures, mostly homes, burned in the south and southwest areas of the city, 435 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
According to officials, even though the fire has largely pushed through Fort McMurray, the town is still too dangerous to enter.
The city’s gas has been turned off, its power grid is damaged and the water is undrinkable.
One analyst from the Bank of Montreal estimated insurance losses could exceed Can$9 billion.