Alberta man endured both Slave Lake and Fort McMurray wildfires

George Cloete lost his home in the fire. Not the Fort McMurray fire but the one in Slave Lake.

Then 13 days before the fifth anniversary of that disaster, he was forced to flee again.

"We literally could feel the explosions right across the street," said Cloete.

But as memories of Slave Lake rushed back, he could have been speaking about either fire.

• Fort McMurray recovery: lessons from the Slave Lake rebuild
• Then and now: Five years after the Slave Lake fire

"I remember the smell, the sounds. The absolute organized chaos of all the traffic and how dark it was. And I looked up at the sun — and the sun was a tiny little red spot. Everything just came back to me."

He recalled urgently helping people in the dark from his Slave Lake pharmacy because the power had cut out. They needed insulin, medication, diapers.

"We just said, 'What do you want? Just take it,' " said Cloete. 

On Monday, Cloete, who now owns the downtown Shoppers Drug Mart in Fort McMurray, was once again making sure his customers had what they needed.

As thousands of evacuees began returning to Fort McMurray, many were pleased to find Cloete's drugstore up and running. Shoppers' staff cheered as the store re-opened, warmly greeting customers.

But it was no easy feat to get there.

Cloete and his team crammed six weeks of work into one.

They ripped out smoke-infused ceiling tiles, cleaned every inch of the spacious store, and threw out every single item. As customers filtered in, the ceiling above them was still missing but new stock lined the shelves.

Workers pull long hours to open Fort McMurray store on time

9 years ago

Duration 0:52

George Cloete says his workers at Shopper Drug Mart did six weeks of work in seven days to prepare the store for re-entry day

They managed to do all that even though eight staff members had lost their homes, said Cloete, his voice thick with emotion.

"That's the kind of humbling support that you don't expect, but get," said Cloete when he could finally get the words out.

Displaced staff also had offers of help from colleagues in other cities in Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. A Slave Lake hotel provided free accommodation.

Everybody's life was before the fire and after the fire and I strongly think that's going to happen here.- George Cloete

Wildfire didn't destroy Cloete's home this time.

In Slave Lake, he went on to rebuild before moving to Fort McMurray.

The South African native only moved to Alberta in 2009, but has now fled Alberta's two most notorious wildfires, both with his cats Oddball and Kit Cat.

"Everybody's life was before the fire and after the fire and I strongly think that that's going to happen here," said Cloete.

He laughed when asked what he makes of being an Alberta wildfire evacuee not once but twice.

"Unlucky," he joked, then grew more serious.

"I think lucky that I"m alive," said Cloete. "How lucky can one man be?"