Fort McMurray stores going extra mile to help returning evacuees
Hardworking people seen as microcosm of city with everyone doing what they can to help
It's been a busy few days for owner Rob Rice and the rest of the crew at the Fort McMurray Home Hardware.
Even an air mattress in the store is contributing.
"We slept upstairs for seven or eight days. We were OK, though, we got a nice coffee room up there with a kitchen," Rice said.
"We weren't roughing it that much but the old air mattress gets a little tiresome."
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Rice said his team are working 13-hour shifts. The work never really ends as the store takes phone calls all hours of the night.
They have even unlocked the doors to knocking residents who desperately need something late at night.
The hardworking people at the hardware store can be seen as a microcosm of the city as a whole with everyone doing whatever they can to help out.
Since people started returning to Fort McMurray, stores offering any sort of appliances have been going the extra mile to make sure everyone gets what they need.
We slept upstairs for seven or eight days. We were ok, though.- Rob Rice, hardware store owner
Rice said the most in-demand items are fridges, but he's seen a massive increase in the sales of furnace filters and perhaps surprisingly, lawn mowers.
"People got to take some pride in the yard I think, right?" Rice asked with a chuckle.
A few blocks from the store, trucks filled with mattresses sit lined up in front of the Brick.
The parking lot has 28 trucks forming a makeshift drive-thru to allow residents easy access to mattresses and other appliances.
"As soon as we heard that there was going to be a need for refrigeration we got the wheels in motion," said Tom Wonnenberg, the store's operations director.
They, much like the folks at the Home Hardware, have been burning the midnight oil to help their neighbours.
"We were open for 24 hours for the first two days, but now it's seven to midnight for the next two weeks," he said.
It puts you in a better mood for our community to get back to work, and let's rebuild and get 'er going- Tom Wonnenberg
There are 101 people working at the store in Fort McMurray as well as 20 people in Calgary and Edmonton manning the phone.
The company is bringing in about 5,000 fridges and trying to accommodate whatever is needed.
The work is non-stop and intense but for Rice, Wonnenberg and others, there is nowhere else they would rather be.
"It puts you in a better mood for our community to get back to work," Wonnenberg explained.
"And let's rebuild and get 'er going."