Returning Fort McMurray residents face long road to recovery

Trish Trefry knows her dream home near Fort McMurray is still standing, but she doesn't yet know if it's in livable condition.

Like many of the 88,000 residents who fled the northern Alberta community a month ago when "The Beast" wildfire moved in, Trefry and her husband will be heading back this week to assess the damage.

They will be taking with them a newly purchased trailer filled with water, food and a pair of air mattresses.

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"It burnt literally right to our doorstep," says Trefry, counting herself lucky her home southeast of Fort McMurray is one of only four left standing on the street. "There's just this little pocket of homes that were saved somehow."

The Trefrys' insurance company has warned that if the foundation of their home was affected, the house could be a writeoff.

"I'm about to jump out of my skin, I'm so anxious. I just want to get back there, I need to be back there — even if it's just for a day," Trefry says. "I'd rather see for myself that I can't stay there rather than somebody tell me."

Slow and steady re-entry plan

Residents will be returning to Fort McMurray and the surrounding area in waves over the coming days, part of a phased re-entry aimed at slowly getting things back up and running after fire destroyed 10 per cent of the buildings in the community.

Officials have warned it won't immediately be business as usual.

Residents are being asked to bring enough food and water for two weeks, and prescriptions. Crews have been working to get businesses like banks and grocery stores up and running, but the opening of the airport and hospital, as well as garbage collection, will come later.

For returning residents, a feeling of normalcy is likely a ways off.

"I don't know how much people can totally prepare," says Judith Kulig, a University of Lethbridge professor.

Kulig, who has studied the aftermath of four major fires in Western Canada, including Slave Lake five years ago, says people could potentially relive the evacuation experience as they return.

With regular updates from the provincial government and images splashed across social media, most residents have an idea of how badly they've been hit. "But it will still be different to stand there and see the loss," Kulig says.

Australian studies have found post-traumatic stress disorder can be diagnosed years after a wildfire, she says.

No 'right way' to react

Evacuees should regularly assess their emotions in the coming days and weeks, Kulig suggests, keeping track of when and how often they feel overwhelmed, fatigued or irritable.

She also recommends individuals and families take inventory of their priorities, writing down pragmatic things, like household tasks, but also listing their values and principles as they seek to re-establish themselves.

It's also important to create routine, says April Nelson, an Edmonton-based psychologist who's been offering free counselling to evacuees. That should include regular sleep, exercise and work-related habits.

"Our feelings and emotions are the driving force of what we do," Nelson says. "[They] steer our everyday thinking, they steer our decision-making ... Being aware of that is going to be important.

"What comes out in situations like this, we can be very obsessive in our thinking," she says. "The key is to keep it forward-focused."

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Lana Broks knows her future is not in Fort McMurray. Her family of four already know their home in the Wood Buffalo neighbourhood is gone and her husband has found a new job in Edmonton.

"In some ways I'm glad we don't have to go back to live in those conditions," she says. "But I'm also so sad that we don't have anything to go home to."

When the evacuation order came down on May 3, Broks rushed to her home through thick smoke, grabbed a few essentials and went to pick her two young daughters up from daycare. Her husband and brother stayed behind.

'It takes your breath away'

While fleeing the community alone with her daughters, ages two and 13 months, the youngest began throwing up, perhaps due to smoke inhalation. Broks had to pull over and get the baby out of her car seat, worried she would choke.

"You could hear it crackling and it was so smoky. The fire was right at the road," Broks said. "It seemed like we were driving right into the fire, but there was nothing we could do about it."

Her husband, Kyle, meanwhile, was forced to abandon his loaded-up truck on the side of the road after getting stuck in traffic. He ran along Birchwood Trail to the highway and caught a ride north.

"I was 99 per cent sure that the house was gone," Broks said. "But I kept trolling Facebook, desperate for a photo."

She soon found one.

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"The neighbour's house is still standing and looks great," she said. "But you wouldn't recognize [ours] if you didn't know what to look for … It takes your breath away."

'Roller-coaster of emotions'

Focusing on positive habits can be a powerful coping mechanism, says Nelson. "Establishing that mindset, it's going to put things in perspective for the next little while."

Scott Myers, born and raised in Fort McMurray, called the past month a "roller-coaster of emotions." But he says he'll return home Wednesday with an "open mind."

He knows he's fortunate: the gas has already been turned back on and he thinks all he'll need to do is replace the refrigerator and freezer.

"I'm prepared to stay, but that depends on how everything progresses up there.… It's my hometown, I don't plan on abandoning it."