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A look at some stark contrasts

May 12, 2016   ·   0 Comments

EVEN BEFORE NEWS BROKE on the Fort McMurray conflagration, there was a huge contrast between events north and south of the border between Canada and the United States.

On our side of the border, the federal government had reached its target of welcoming 25,000 refugees from war-torn Syria, while to the south the presumed Republican candidate to succeed President Barack Obama was calling for a ban on such immigration, construction of the U.S. version of the Berlin Wall along the border with Mexico, and a general ban on admitting Muslims, all as part of somehow making the United States “great again.” But as if opening our hearts to the victims of Syria’s seemingly endless civil war wasn’t proof of the vast differences in public moods north and south of the border, Canadians’ response to the Fort McMurray wildfire showed anew that historic differences between Canada’s East and West have been more imagined than real.

As of Monday, the Canadian Red Cross had received $60 million in disaster-relief donations, which will be matched by the federal government although administered by the Red Cross, and be in addition to funds available under Ottawa’s disaster relief programs.

Interestingly, the main battle against the wildfire that forced the evacuation of Fort McMurray’s 88,000 residents came during Emergency Preparedness Week, and has since demonstrated amazingly the capable work of first responders.

On Monday, smoke still hung in the air as a bus carrying media representatives passed RCMP roadblocks and took a tour of the city guided by Fire Chief Darby Allen of the encompassing Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.What the passengers witnessed was truly another study of contrasts, with almost total devastation in the Beacon Hill neighbourhood and virtually no evidence of damage elsewhere. Before entering the city, Chief Allen told the reporters that despite some scenes of devastation, about 85 per cent of the buildings in the community have been saved. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley was on the tour, and in a press conference had high praise for the work of the first responders.

The premier said that while about 2,400 homes were lost, all the operating schools, the hospital and other public buildings – about 25,000 sites in all – had been saved.

Of course, all the best efforts of first responders would have come to nil had they lacked the necessary equipment. As it was, they appear to have had a lot, particularly as word spread as to the wildfire’s severity.

By this week, Alberta-based helicopters and water bombers had been supplemented by aircraft and equipment from at least Ontario and British Columbia, and the offer of water bombers from as far away as Russia (an offer declined by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who may have seen some irony in welcoming Russian bombers).As long as 125 years ago, the value of good fire-fighting equipment and the risks posed by lack of the same was fully illustrated in Alliston, where as you’ll see elsewhere in this week’s paper, fire wiped out the town’s business section and the only fire engine (likely horse-drawn) available somehow made it all the way from Collingwood.

It will be interesting to see how long it takes for Fort McMurray to return to a state approaching normalcy.

Premier Notley says it will be another two weeks before arrangements are complete for the return of any displaced residents. The reason it will take that long is that even after the remaining hot spots are dealt with and the flames are far from ‘Fort Mac’ there will be a need to restore basic services such as water and sewer, electricity and natural gas to all parts of the town. It will also be interesting to see how successful the displaced residents are in getting the insurance coverage they need, particularly in cases where they have lost everything, including their clothes and household furnishings. That’s where the millions being raised through the Red Cross will come into play.

But our betting is that within two years there will be few, if any, traces left from one of the worst wildfires in Canadian history.

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