Born from the ashes: Fort McMurray family returns home, with new baby in tow
When mother Stacey Greeley was 38 weeks pregnant, she and her husband were evacuated from Fort McMurray.
But now the family has returned home, along with their new addition.
Greeley, originally from Queen's Cove, Newfoundland, and her husband Derrick were evacuated from the Alberta community during the wildfire.
They didn't have time to pack up the newborn's items, so they left with nothing and drove to nearby Cold Lake to be with family.
When they got there, the donations started to roll in.
"I guess word got out of me being there, we ended up with four car seats, strollers, boxes and boxes of clothes. It was unreal what Cold Lake did for us," said Greeley.
"It's a small town, so it's kind of like Newfoundland, actually."
As if waiting until everything was ready for him, Deegan William Raymond Greeley was born on June 1 — 10 days late.
It wasn't long after that people started to return to Fort McMurray, including the Greeleys, whose home was safe from the fires but in need of baby preparation.
"Smoke levels were pretty high in the basement, but my husband and his father came back early and scrubbed out the basement [...] had environmentalist come in and make sure all the air was good for our little one to come back."
Now, the family is settling back into their home and are giving away those donated items from Cold Lake to another family in Fort McMurray.
And how is Deegan liking Fort Mac?
"Oh he loves it. So much easier, [because] I had everything ready," said Greeley.
"Now I'm not living out of boxes anymore."
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