First Person Accounts

Stories From Those Who Were There

Charlie macDonald's Story

Charlie was the Director of Field Services for the MD during the May 2011 wildfires.

I arrived at my new job with the MD in the mist of some very exciting times. The fire was only a few weeks old and the town had this haze and aroma of something abnormal. You knew home was a long distance away. My first two weeks were spent with Disaster Services at the college where the command centre was set up. Being new meant the town was a place where disorientation flourished, and there were many new faces with a swarm of problems and requests requiring immediate attention.

Questions varied. "Where do I stay?" "When can I return to the MD?" "Is our house still standing?" "What are the underground services like?" "You'll have 10 semis with relief goods delivered tomorrow, where do you want them?" "I need some help. Where do I go?"

As we became more familiar with surroundings and tasks, it became clear I was working with a lot of dedicated people. Our goals were to accommodate as many of them as possible with the most accuracy available to us. From this encounter, going into the emergency flood was just a continuation of the fire disaster. We had a bridge that was burned. The flood lifted another bridge off its moorings. Some of our roads had over one meter of water over them. From attempting to assess fire damage, from heavy equipment utilizing our infrastructure, to this mass of water over five weeks, the working field did not slow down.

It should be noted that a lot of help was provided and offered to help combat these disasters. Our Municipal Affairs Minister probably stated what we all wanted to hear. Minister Doug Griffiths said "We are talking about a natural disaster on a scale unprecedented, so to see the way the tri-council has come together and the way the partners have provided resources that are still flexible to allow the communities to rebuild in a fashion that they see fit is incredible."

Being part of this does not leave a lot of stones unturned.


Print  

Jennifer harper's Story

We did our shopping, came out and put the groceries in the vehicle, as we were sitting there Dale said, “Is that smoke coming from…

Charlie macDonald's Story

Being new meant the town was a place where disorientation flourished, and there were many new faces with a swarm of problems and requests requiring…

Vanessa Houston's Story

With the help of our local peace officer and a few town employees, we were able to set up a temporary holding facility at the…

Rick Mundt's Story

This is an event that I do not want to discuss in detail, however it has been requested for reasons I believe in. I will…

Annette Kay's Story

I was called late Saturday afternoon to come into the MD office to help with fire evacuation calls as there was a fire burning south…

Darren Fulmore's Story

There were a large number of vehicles that had made it into our community but did not have enough fuel to go on. Fortunately a…

Karen Dierker's Story

On May 14th, we were put on a two hour evacuation notice, which we are so grateful for. Because of that notice, we were able…

Jodi Broadhead's Story

The communities in the MD of Lesser Slave River should take a moment to thank and recognize the small town heroes who fought the fires…

Kelly Adelman's Story

On May 14, my husband and I were outside doing some yard work when we saw the first bomber fly over. It was incredibly windy…

Allan Winarski's Story

Saturday afternoon I headed to the MD office after learning of the advance of the Grizzly Ridge Fire. Staff and Council started filtering in as…
Image
MD administration offices are open from Monday to Friday between 8:15am and 4:30pm.
Main Office: Box 722 - 3000, 15th Ave SE, Slave Lake, AB
T:780.849.4888  F:1.866.449.4888
Sub-office: 660061 Range Road 20, Flatbush, AB
T:780.681.3929  F:1.866.681.3929

Operations

Services

Council

Regional Issues

Popular Resources

MAIN NAVIGATION

SEARCH THE MD WEBSITE