One family’s story: the escape from Fort McMurray

By Laura Bohnert

Originally from Peru, Sandra Meza and her three children, Jonathan (seven), Lynn (nine), and Cielo (13), had been living in Fort McMurray close to five years when they found out they needed to evacuate.

In the late afternoon on Tuesday, Meza, who was doing laundry in her basement, received a phone call from a distressed friend.

“Previously to that, the radio said just Beacon Hill was evacuating. I never expected Timberlea to have to leave, too,” Meza explains. “It had been a normal day up to that point. I went for a walk and the kids went to school.”

“Around 2 p.m. my friend called and asked me what I was going to do.” Not listening to the radio or watching TV, Meza didn’t know what her friend was talking about. “She told me to go upstairs, and when I opened the living room window, there was smoke everywhere.”

“I told my friend not to worry. She has a two-month-old baby, so I told her not to worry and that I would call her later,” states Meza.

Then she had to get her kids: “I called the school, but the line was busy. I tried to reach my oldest daughter on her phone, but her phone was busy, too,” explains Meza. “Then I turned on the radio and it said the fire was getting close to the city.”

“Everything was happening so fast,” says Meza. “I took the car and went to Confederation Way. Traffic was crazy. There were cars everywhere. The sky was smoky red and grey, and people were driving like there were no rules. There was an accident, a truck with another truck. There were sirens and police officers.”

“Finally, I got to the kids’ school to pick up my little ones. There were lots of trucks, kids and moms were crying. I signed and took Johnathan and Lynn, but now I had to pick up my oldest. Traffic was so bad. Police were directing traffic, but I was not able to turn left to get to my daughter’s school.”

“I didn’t know what to do. The sky was smoky and red, and I had to go straight to my place instead of to the school. Instead of the normal seven-minute drive, it took hours,” Meza explains. “I called a friend who works near the area around the school and asked if they could pick up my daughter. That was around 3 p.m. My friend left right away, but my daughter didn’t get home until 6 p.m.”

“When we got home, I told the kids to go downstairs because of the smoke.  I was listening to the news, but still it said nothing about Timberlea. I didn’t know what was coming,” explains Meza. “Then I went out to check the car.  It didn’t have gas for even 45 minutes of driving.”

“After my daughter got home, I started packing, but we still didn’t have a lot of time,” says Meza. “I packed some stuff, but it was stuff I didn’t even want to use: a fancy dress for my daughter, hotdogs, banana, shirts, no underwear—the kids packed only their swimsuits.”

“I contacted someone from Calgary who was offering gas to his friends through a Facebook page,” states Meza. “I told him I don’t know him, but I don’t have enough gas to get out of Fort McMurray.”

“At around 8:30 p.m., I was still at my place. I tried to drive to get gas, but the police sent me back just one block from a gas station because the flames were too close,” explains Meza. “At 9:30 p.m., I decided to leave, and I decided to go south because the traffic was too bad going north. We wouldn’t have made it. At 9:40, the man from Calgary texted me and told me a lady had gas in Anzac, 45 minutes from Fort McMurray. I told him I would get there.”

“When I was passing 63, downtown, there were flames out the right side of my window, and out the other side dark smoke and sparkles,” Meza describes. “I told the kids to close their eyes so they wouldn’t be scared.  My nine-year-old (Lynn) asked me why God was not helping us, then Jonathan asked why Aquaman wasn’t helping us—he wanted Aquaman to come and use his water on the fire.”

“My oldest (Cielo) said ‘mom, are you sure you’re going to make it?’ and I told her yes, I’m sure.”

The man from Calgary was in contact with us all night,” Meza states.  “When I was driving through 63, I had to go left onto 881, but I was in the wrong lane. I didn’t have enough gas to go around, so I told him I was going through the ditch. He called me a crazy girl, and I said okay, okay, let’s go!”

“At 1 a.m., we made it to Anzac, and the lady was waiting there. She gave us snacks, water for the kids, juice for me, and filled the car with gas,” explains Meza. “At 1:30 a.m. I started driving again. I drove until 4 a.m. and made it close to Conklin. I pulled over to the side of the road and told the kids to imagine we were camping.”

“The next day I tried to make it to Lac la Biche, but the car broke down,” states Meza. “I pulled over and grabbed a suitcase and small blankets, but when I opened the door, our cat ran out into the forest. The kids wanted to go after it, but I told them no. We had to keep going. It would come back.”

Meza and her kids finally made it to Edmonton, then took the bus to Whitecourt: “The people around us helped a lot,” emphasizes Meza.  “Close to Edmonton, a man helped us and we had a cookie. In Edmonton, the kids got more to eat and a lady gave us sweaters. A hotel helped us with stuff for the bathroom.”

“When we got to Whitecourt, the kids were so tired. We went to a Walmart to use the bathroom and a guy gave us water and a lady gave the kids ice cream.”

“We were dirty and smoky, and all we had was a suitcase,” describes Meza. “We went to Domino’s Pizza and they gave us our meal for free. My friend, Curtis English, picked us up from Domino’s and we finally got to have a shower on Friday.”

“Since then, people have helped us a lot with groceries. A friend brought my car to Edmonton, and the SPCA in Edmonton even called to say they found our cat,” states Meza. “The kids were so excited when they got him back.”

“The news says we are going back to Fort McMurray in June,” says Meza.  “For now we are just waiting to go back. The kids are in school here, Jonathan at Pat Hardy, Lynn at Central, and Cielo at Percy Baxter.”

“The kids are doing great—they don’t want to go back to Fort Mac.”

“As far as I know, the house is still standing, but there is damage to the roof and damage from the smoke,” Meza explains. “I am trying to say thank you to Curtis by cleaning from top to bottom.”

“It’s a story for a lifetime,” Meza concludes. “It definitely makes us stronger.”