Fort McMurray wildfire hits close to home for Sudbury residents

Morning North8:25Fire in Fort McMurray hits home for Sudbury woman who's mother lives there

Most of us know someone affected by the fires in Fort McMurray. For Lindsay Lavallee of Sudbury, the situation hits close to home. Her Mother, Kim Stibbard, lives in Fort McMurray. Both of them joined us for some reaction to what's happening.

While the fires in Fort McMurray, Alta. continue to blaze more than 3,000 kilometres away, this situation is affecting some residents in Sudbury, Ont. 

Andrew Guillet has been following the situation closely on social media. He said a former co-worker currently lives in the Alberta community, and lost his home in the fires. 

• PHOTOS | Wildfire forces evacuation of Fort McMurray

"It's unfortunate that I'm too far away to do anything hands-on," Guillet said.

"Had I lived closer, I would have offered property had I had some for people to seek shelter or a place to lay their heads." 

Guillet added that he plans to donate his kids' old clothes to help those who have lost their belongings from the situation.

'It was almost unbelievable' 

Meanwhile, former Sudbury resident Kim Stibbard has since evacuated to Edmonton. Stibbard, who works at the airport in Fort McMurray, said the fire was nothing she had seen before. 

"I don't think anything can prepare you for something like this. It went from you know, 'everything's okay, everything's under control to ... get out now'," she said.

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Stibbard said she had half-an-hour to pack up her belongings and leave her home on Tuesday. She and her husband ended up spending the night on the road. 

"It was all sort of red and really black in the sky and everything," Stibbard said describing what she saw.

"We [only] have one change of clothes, we have two cats and a dog and some of their stuff."

Stibbard's daughter, Lindsay Lavallee, lives in Sudbury and said she was shocked by the pictures of the fires on social media. 

"It was almost unbelievable," she said.

"I just couldn't believe that it was happening to them. And it's hard when you're out here and you're not actually experiencing yourself." 

Stibbard, who has been in contact with her daughter through text messaging and Facebook, said she's not sure when she'll be back in Fort McMurray. But Lavallee said they will always be welcome to stay with her in Sudbury. 

"If they need to come back here, they have a home here," she said. "We're just so far away and you just feel so helpless that ... it's actually heartbreaking."