Brendan Banah fled Fort McMurray as the city burned with nothing but the clothes on his back and his dog, Ace.
Now in Cochrane, Banah sat down with the Eagle to share the story of his harrowing escape.
“All I could think was that I needed to get out … I couldn’t care less of what I lost or maybe lost, I was just concerned about myself and my dog,” Banah explained over a coffee.
“I never experienced something like that before in my life.”
On May 3, the city of Fort McMurray issued a mandatory evacuation for all of its 83,000 residents at 6:20 p.m. after what started as a small wildfire had grown and spread throughout the city. On May 4, Premier Rachel Notley declared a state of emergency.
Banah, 24, who had been living in Fort McMurray for a little less than a year, renting a place and working at Town Hall Public House, was “just hanging out” during a day off when he realized the severity of the situation.
“I spent the day before outside hanging out with my dog, I was well aware of the fire but it was the next day when I stepped out of the shower and looked outside and the skies were dark (from smoke),” Banah explained, not realizing at that point the flames were only one kilometre from where he lived.
“I went to work, picked up my roommate, raced back home and just grabbed everything.”
Bannah said he left before the city was under the mandatory evacuation order but only made it halfway to Fort McKay when traffic stopped. The highway was bumper-to-bumper when another lane of traffic was started off the road but that only lasted a short while before traffic came to a stop again.
“People were in a panic and started leaving vehicles, I just grabbed my dog and left the car,” Banah explained.
Banah made it to Fort McKay later that day, after catching a ride with his neighbours he ran into on the highway, and later met up with his co-workers in the community.
The 24-year-old said the decision was made between his co-workers and himself, to go back to the city, check on the restaurant and figure out their next step. After the group went back to the restaurant and got some water for themselves and their dogs, they began to search the area for full jerry cans to fill up their vehicles and drive south.
“We found a couple jerry cans and were able to fill up the vehicles halfway, so we could get to Grassland where we were meeting another (co-worker) with more jerry cans,” Banah explained.
“Once we started driving, it was nice to finally see the sun – the city was covered in the dark cloud of smoke – it was like getting back to civilization.”
After the group meet up with their co-workers in Grassland, Banah said he continued to drive south until he got to Cochrane, his temporary home until he can return to Fort McMurray.
“I don’t know what is left. There is a chance some stuff is there but I don’t know what can be salvaged,” Banah said.
“I’m just happy to be alive and happy that my dog is OK.”
Banah has been living and working in Cochrane for the past two weeks and said he plans to live in the town throughout the summer, as he is not expecting to be able to move back to Fort McMurray anytime soon.
“I hear something different on the news every day. I don’t want to head back just to hear that I’ll have to leave in a couple of days, I want to wait until it is safe … but everyone here has been so helpful and supportive,” Banah said.
“It is still hard to believe that this is something I went through, it is still shocking to me. It’s been an on going replay in my head. I don’t think I’ll be able to let it go for awhile.”
Since the province declared a state of emergency, the town has stepped up with fundraising efforts and an abundance of donations, with the majority of businesses and organization helping. But for individuals who know someone that has been affected, just offering moral support is help, Banah said.
“Don’t throw material objects at people, just ask them what they need and be that ‘go-to’ person,” Banah said.
“My next step? Right now I am just laying low, waiting to hear what is happening next but for now I am enjoying Cochrane.”
To find a list of how Cochrane businesses/organizations are helping go to the cochraneeagle.com.
