Labrador woman captures Fort Mac fire scene in search of breathable air
Katie Breen | CBC News | Posted: May 4, 2016 7:52 PM | Last Updated: May 4, 2016
Cavell Dumaresque passed through the smouldering region Wednesday
Where there's fire, there's smoke — and risk of smoke inhalation. One Labradorian, her colleague and a two-year-old boy are doubling back through Fort McMurray, Wednesday in hopes of finding clean, smoke-free air and a familiar place to stay on the other side.
"This is what was burning last night," you can hear Cavell Dumaresque, of Labrador City, say as she records on her cell phone the scene near Fort McMurray's downtown core.
You can see how close people were when they were trying to get out. - Cavell Dumaresque
"You can see how close people were [to the flames] when they were trying to get out."
The group, including Dumaresque, originally fled northbound late Tuesday afternoon. They stayed overnight at Firebag Lodge, a 600-bed work camp that's around 60 kilometres east of Highway 63.
Because of the poor air quality north of Fort McMurray and the desire to stay some place more homey, they decided to head to a friend's camper in Lac La Biche — a community about 225 km northeast of Edmonton.
"It's just nothing but white smoke" she continues to narrate.
"Cars are all over the place. [They were] left here overnight, I guess."
Thinks her home is safe
The trio live in the Fort McMurray neighbourhood of Eagle Creek. Dumaresque believes her home should be safe but lots of others have been torched.
"We didn't see any burned-out houses so we were saved from that visual," she said.