My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 7 - Justin Sickkamore's Story

While helping out in Fort Mac, a number of people came in to volunteer. Most of these people came in after the first 48 hours of me being there so we had limited opportunity to get to know each other.

Jodi Dick and Justin

Now Justin and I only met a few times up there, we were both really busy doing the tasks we had taken on. I knew that he was living up here in GP and I reached out to him and asked him to share his story with all of you.

In his own words, here is Justin Sickkamore's Time in Fort Mac:

This whole surreal relief effort that I was fortunate enough to be a part of all began for me with a phone conversation with my good buddy and mechanic at Bulldog, Sam Stuart. From this conversation began for us an outpouring of support that was monumental to say the least.

Sam and his pal Scott White, a mechanic at Ferus, got us rolling with a 20' enclosed trailer from Ferus and a 25' flat deck. From there Blaine Swanson, Kyle Cadman, Darrell Carek and Kris Klapstein from Bulldog Energy Group offered me full support, gave me unlimited access to fuel cards and offered me as much time off as I needed.

Bull Dog Energy Group

We made contact with the lovely Jodi Dick at Pat's Auto here in Grande Prairie, she agreed for us to stage our trailers at her facility on the main drag up north and also to manage the donations for us and get the trailers loaded up, freeing us up for other things. We also started taking donations at Bulldog's shop, which we shared with Jeff Bateman and Tired Iron Mechanical just outside of town. The outpouring was unimaginable, Grant Production Testing GP showed up with a full pallet of necessities, Cole with 10K Rentals here in GP, same thing, and on and on.. By the end of the day we had 4 trailer loads ready to roll and roll they did. By 8 pm we were pulling out of GP and Edmonton bound to hit the relief center to see if they needed anything or if we could transport for them, unfortunately we had no luck in Edmonton as we arrived late, we carried on, Sam and Scott stopped in Fort Saskatchewan for a sleep. But I couldn't I had to carry on, by daybreak I was rolling into Conklin.

It was chaos, RCMP just arriving, fires raging, confusion, virtually no supplies it was unreal. I was talking a gentleman who didn't even manage to grab shoes in the mayhem of the evacuation. He got the Globes off of my feet. I had managed to think ahead a little and grab my PS3 and some games from my room for stranded kids, and the smiles on the faces of the kids that I gave it to in Conklin were priceless! Also I feel the need to mention all the amazing and hard work done by those working at Conklin Lodge sorry that I don't remember your names. But my time was up in Conklin, so after filling up about 10 RCMP cruisers I had to keep going, someone told me there was a small town named Janvier up the 881 so off I went. When I arrived in Janvier I was informed they were under a boil water order and were running out of drinking water, luckily I had 50+ cases on my trailer, which I dropped off. They were so grateful their hugs and smiles reinforced in my mind why I needed to be here.

Then I finally met "the beast" I got cut off at Anzac on Hwy 881 and wheeled around by RCMP (who gratefully accepted some granola bars etc.. I had to pin it (and I mean pin it, my poor GMC) to the K-Road cut across and got to Wandering River. The wonderful volunteers who were already setting up in Wandering River picked thru my stuff took what they needed and sent me on my way. Hit a few stores restocked my trailer with what money I had left grabbed 28 cartons of smokes for firefighters and off I went.

I arrived at the barricade on Hwy 63 at Hwy 881 and was once again face to face with the monster, I dropped my trailer on the southbound side of the 63 and opened the doors and set up a makeshift display for evacuees to stop and grab what they needed as they fled their beloved homes. I spent the night in my truck on 63 met a few stragglers who grabbed supplies. Two that really stick out were a father and his young boy, stopped and grabbed tooth brushes and simple things and that little boy hugged me so tight, just went to show the chaos and desperation for the simple things that we take for granted daily. The fire in Anzac got bad, bombers dropping water right beside me on the highway,
that's when Ezra Mackenzie showed up from Bulldog with about 1000lbs of burgers, pork chops etc for Firefighters. That was my in, that's how I got security clearance and was put in contact with an amazing man by the name of Jeremy Hall. Jeremy was our (the volunteers') leader in this time of chaos, he is who I turned to with questions up there and who held the behind the scenes together for us volunteers. That man gets huge, huge respect from me always, he's someone who could always call on me in life or death situation and I'd be there no questions. So I'm in and as I drive towards Mac Island it resembles what I would imagine an apocalypse looking like, abandoned vehicles everywhere scattered on the roads, a city bus jammed in the median just surreal. Then I arrived at Mac Island where my new family for the next week immediately surrounded me. With 28 cartons of smokes on board, I started making friends fast lol (the 28 cartons I gave away every last pack in 6 hours flat, just an example of how desperate conditions were at first)

I immediately turned to Facebook, posting my phone # and the fact that I was at Mac Island and that we needed supplies. The public response was tremendous; my phone went off the hook. Then I "called out" Tim Horton’s asking why we didn't have a mobile station for these heroes. Within three hours I received a call from this wonderful little Nova Scotian lady Natalie Stephen who just so happens to run a Timmy's mobile Van out of Edmonton. That determined angel on earth jumped through hoops and made arrangements to get up there and do you know what? That little soldier is still up there today I just talked to her. Kudos to you Natalie! Then I met Belt Drive Betty, I immediately recognized her passion and huge heart, I also met Jody Hudek, an amazing soul who after losing it all stayed and worked round the clock with me feeding volunteers, Will Skinner from GP, the cook who actually had skills! LOL.

Then I got a message from a man in Red Deer, a Mike Veroba, owner of Renegade Oilfield Service, who informed me that with the help of Gasoline Alley Harley Davidson had tirelessly filled 4 that's right four 53' trailers full of supplies. Mike and I collaborated and organized where to send needed supplies. Mike even managed to get $2300 worth of chew for the firefighters who had been looking for some for days.

Then I fired up the BBQ's that the community center had on site and we started getting some warm food out to the heroes on the ground. Will and I ran that grill day and night for days, I told the boys no matter 4:30pm or 4:30am I'm not a cook but I can grill some burgers and there will be hot ones waiting if anyone wants one. I wasn't aloud to help with the fires (I tried lol) it's the least I could do. I was putting out anywhere from 300-500 burgers a night from only 11pm to 4am. But seeing the smiles on those tired, wet and hungry heroes firefighters and RCMP alike made it all worthwhile. A few days later, On Fire Barbeques in Beaverlodge sent up a beaut of a grill capable of doing roughly 100 burgers at a time making my life and that of Will’s sooo much easier, thanks guys. I jumped in the forklift and started offloading trucks, ran around organizing supplies and finding out what people needed and communicating that to the outside world through Facebook.


Then on Sunday, Mother's Day, I had the pleasure of meeting this gem of a woman from GP named Jessy Kappel, a true hero, away from her beautiful daughter on mother's day fighting to save the city for strangers, all with this sometimes forced smile on her face and determination in her eyes, going hard 20+ hours a day. I have mad respect for that woman, what a soldier.

Then came the day we got the word we were getting the boot from Mac Island, I was so disappointed, I'd still be there if they'd let me, but anyway, we loaded up roughly 1500lbs of dog food that was left over at Mac Island and headed out of the city a little over a week after we got in. We hit two "RV cities" south of the city, and dropped off probably about 300lbs of food to hungry dogs and a bunch of meat and odds and ends for the humans too. The rest we delivered to Lac La Biche and even given my 1:45am arrival in Lac La Biche we were graciously welcomed by the Lac La Biche Humane Society who even helped me offload the truck! I think I finally saw a bed for the first time in over a week in Spruce Grove at about 4:30am. Crashed and got back up to meet Ben Sauve and Tania Marowchuk, two evacuees I had been in contact with on Facebook and had coffee and a chat, their positive attitude amongst all the chaos was really uplifting.

Finally back to GP, day 13 I think, I lost track, I met up with my best friend's sister Tiffany Reid, her man Adam Nicholson and their two wonderful kids Madox and Lola. Lovely Miss Lola's bike had been stolen from their front lawn their first night in GP (way to go GP) and I saw Tiffany's post on Facebook looking for a bike for her. I didn't have much left but I really wanted to help them. So I scrounged up my last $150 and off to WalMart we went, and with the help of the wonderful assistant manager Rhonda at WalMart GP who put the balance of the bike I couldn't afford on her personal debit card we got Lola her bike!

Now I'm settled back in GP with Bulldog, life as normal per say, but it doesn't feel right.

Anyways in closing, if I were ever heaven forbid to find myself in the predicament that residents of Fort McMurray are in I would pray that someone out there would do the things I've done for me. As a human being the least I can do is be willing to do what I would hope others would do for me. I'd do it again in a heartbeat and would drive to Fort Mac tomorrow if they'd let me in. Last but not least stay #albertastrong

Justin's Photo Album on Google+


I hope you enjoyed Justin's story and his photo album.

Until next time,

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

My Time in Fort Mac - Part 5 - Truck Woes

Lynda Klouth is the new publisher for the BKC News Bytes, Grande Prairie & Region.

She is the gal who without hesitation volunteered her truck and travel trailer and herself as the driver to get supplies up to Fort Mac's first Responders.

 Lynda was a day later getting back to Fort Mac than she wanted to be.

She had taken her truck into GP Chrysler because it had been running so badly the last
150 K into Fort Mac and it did not improve on the way back to Grande Prairie either.

GP Chrysler changed the fuel filters, oil and filter and a headlight for her for free for what she was doing to help the fire fighters and other first responders.

At one point on that first trip in, the truck "ran out of fuel" in spite of it having a full slip tank to draw from.

We sat for a while and some gents came over to see if they could help.
After a few minutes the truck started up again but failed a little ways up the road. These same folks followed us for a while, good thing too. It was odd, we thought there must be an air bubble in the system and or a plugged fuel filter.

The truck started up, ran about 5 miles and quit again.

After checking everything that could be checked, we started the truck up and the fuel gauge started registering fuel and while the truck seemed to be revving awfully high about 2,200 RPM when it should have been down around 1,900 - it seemed to run not too bad.

After we got done feeding RCMP officers on the highway and the fire was a bit more under control along the hi-way we headed into Mac Island.  Lynda and I worked through the first 5 or six hours and when Jeremy came up he had picked up a filter for Lynda's truck and attempted to change the one.

Things did not go as planned and so I got about a two hour nap in and then Lynda took one for about 4 hours before she headed for Grande Prairie. She had left about 7 pm on Thursday May 5th.
She arrived back on Saturday May 7th in the early morning, about 6 am.

Saturday was a hectic day. There were so many new crews coming in and crews going home.

Lynda had brought in some much needed supplies for people and we had gone around to each fire rig and made sure every truck had electrolytes (Hydralyte) and every fire fighter who had complained about their feet had the supplies they needed be they insoles, Gold Bond Powder, Moleskin etc.
We delivered tobacco to a few, gum to others and made sure everyone possible was stocked up.

She also told me of her harrowing trip back, with a sick truck and a tunnel of fire she had to drive through.  When she left Mac Island, she stopped at the road block and the RCMP had told her the road was good. But, by the time she was 60 Kms away from the Anzac road block (about 75k out of Fort Mac) there was fire on both sides of the road and the ditch in the middle. She said she had never been so scared in her whole life.  I can't freaking imagine how scary that combination of sick truck and a tunnel of fire must have been - words absolutely escape me.

Poor Lynda, Her truck, her new to her truck that she paid really good money for was sounding very sick.

She and her daughter and son in law basically unloaded, handed out supplies and then they had to head out.  She needed to limp her truck back to Grande Prairie Chrysler where her Bulldog Computer was diagnosed as a fail.

I worried about them on this trip back and was relieved when I got her text message that she had finally made it home a 7.5 hour trip took them over 11 to complete.

The bill was not covered by the extended warranty she had purchased with the truck.

Although GP Chrysler did discount the bill it still cost Lynda $1,500 + tax out of her pocket.
Money this small business owner really didn't have to spare.

Her truck was finally repaired late in the week and so that was the end of Lynda's journeys with us.

I wrote a letter to the dealership and asked them to make a plea to Chrysler Canada but as I write this I have heard nothing back.  If I had the money, I would just give her the money, but I don't so we are going to figure out a small fundraiser for her.

Saturday was also an emotional day for me as Jim from Leduc Fire Department had presented me with a stuffed dalmatian fire dog to thank me for being there for them throughout the last few days.

Glenn Chaulk from Syncrude had come over with his crew and presented me with his personal challenge coin - again to thank me for the work I had done feeding these guys while Lynda was on the road.

The only real relief I had from manning that booth after Lynda left on the 5th was a gal named Jasmine Hale, who took over for me for about a half 3/4's of an hour...maybe a bit longer she made sandwiches while I made coffee and straightened up the line and got some supper myself. Other than that the breaks I took where when either Matt, Jody or Jeremy could cover me for bathroom breaks and naps.

Saturday afternoon, Kevin O'Conner and some Peace Officer & Sheriff friends along with employees of A1 Rentals pulled in with the produce and supplies they had brought in.

Later on in the evening two ladies, Brittany Cardle (R) and Becca Hess (L) arrived to give me a hand.  I was grateful to have some hands and did my best to show them what needed to be done.  I got some much needed sleep on my cot, snuggled up with my firehouse puppy.

After a hot shower in the morning, I checked on the gals, Becca was manning the booth and Brittany was sleeping in her Jeep.

With everything under control, I decided to let Will sleep in. I headed towards the gymnasium and with Dennis's help got Mother's Day breakfast started.

We had all these glorious farm fresh eggs, sausage, potatoes and onions, pancake mix and syrup and I was determined we were going to have a great breakfast.

Dennis sliced potatoes and onions, I was on sausage detail getting as many pre-cooked and on the warmers as possible, and attempting to prevent hash browns from burning when Matt from the Edmonton Fire Department came up and offered a hand.
Now many years ago when I was a young girl, I dated a captain from Fire Hall # 3 in Edmonton, and I came to know that Fire Fighters tend to be pretty damned fine cooks.


I wasn't going to turn down his offer of help as people were already starting to line up and Jody was busy getting coffee ready and putting other breakfast items out on the table in front of the BBQ...

Matt made up the first bowl of pancake batter, I started cracking eggs for scrambled eggs and we took turns manning the sausage and hash browns .  Another Edmonton Fire Fighter, whose name I can not for the life of me remember, came over and offered a hand after teasing Matt.

With the three of us just rocking it on the BBQ's were were keeping up pretty good with the line up of hungry people looking for breakfast!
Jeremy Hall came over and pretty soon, I was pushed out of the breakfast "pit"as we called it, by Matt, Jeremy and the other fire fighter, they said it was because I was a mother too and I should go enjoy breakfast.

How thoughtful - all of the lady fire fighters and police officers were truly appreciative of this very sweet gesture.

At about 15 to 10am we got hit with RAIN! It only lasted about 45 minutes but My word were we all happy to get some...but the scrambling began to move the quick line inside.

It was shortly after this that my time on Mac Island became more than a tad unsettling.

Someone had taken my stuffed dalmatian - the one Jim had given me.

I had left him safely tucked in under my blankets on my cot and a trucker driver had helped me move my cot indoors and when I left my cot, "Lucky" was still there, tucked underneath the covers.  When I went to get him to show him to Jody later, he was gone and no one knew anything.  I was crushed and literally in tears - the gift had meant so much.

MUCH More later...

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, know that we here in Grande Prairie are finally getting a much needed gentle soaking rain that has lasted so far about 12 hours.  I am not riding today and I am OK with that.

I pray this rain reaches Fort Mac sooner than later.

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

This post has been updated to correct the name of the gal who gave me a break - her name was Jasmine Hale not Jennifer....Sorry girl!

My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 4

There are some actions that speak so loudly as to character that you bond to that person who took the action in the most profound of ways.

I hope my penmanship will allow you to understand and feel just how deep these experiences were.

I want to back up to the day that I decided I wanted to get into Fort Mac with supplies.

I made this decision in a snap, no thinking, no second guessing, it became a rock hard resolve in my heart. I was prepared to rent a truck and trailer if I had to that's how hard the resolve was set in me.

When I called Lynda Klouth, my Grande Prairie & Region publisher for the BKC News Bytes and told her what I wanted to do, there was no hesitation in her.

It was simple - she told me "I need to take care of x,y and z and then we can go."
I had already adopted this woman as a sister of my soul and her actions on May 4th, 2016, well, they have forever cemented her position in my heart.

When I talked to my team of two, contractors, and told them I needed them to help and support me in this decision, I got immediate support. Again no second guessing, no comments of don't go - it was "you tell me what you need and I will do it." Suzie and Dave helped me with communications, Suzie did my banking and answered emails for me.  I trust this woman with my life - she has been my right hand for 11 years - she is my ROCK in this business called Belt Drive Betty Media.

My company is so much better for having Dave Trerice handling event communications and postings - he's a trooper and guess what - our pay day is on the 6th of the month and these good folks had to wait for me to get home to do payroll before they could get paid. NO WHINING - NO BITCHING - they were sooo damned patient.

Suzie and her husband were among the first to send me a donation as well!
How's that for loyalty and support?

My "son" Darren Burry with the Iron Order Motorcycle Club was also among the first to donate and in all he donated three times.  His club all stepped up to help him, help me.
I call Darren my son because he is one of those very special young men that moved my soul. He and his wife Em are two of the sweetest people in the world with hearts that are so generous, so genuine, well I fell in love with them the first time I met them and time after time they have proven to me the quality of their souls through their actions.  I want to thank all of the members of the Iron Order who helped Darren help me. One Albertan, Canadian and motorcyclist to another - YOU ROCK.

Then there was Jeremy Hall who called me to help coordinate the effort. He started collecting donations, cleared his schedule so that he'd be able to come and pitch in.  He sent me some money to help with supplies, and then he showed up in Fort Mac with more supplies, the donation from Nicole in Slave Lake and Will Skinner.  He also is the one who called me and asked me if we could take Grovedale Fire Fighter Jessica Kappel with us into Fort Mac.

I watched Jeremy Hall work tirelessly. When he wasn't on the BBQ he was shifting supplies and getting them palletized and sorted, running a water truck or a hoe, hand balming supplies off of the SaveOn Foods truck that came in on Thursday because no one could find a key to the forklift.
I watched him texting for supplies like windshield washer fluid, DEF Fluid for diesel trucks and making calls to rally his network of people.

How about Will Skinner - that man's story can't be told enough.  Will was in a wheelchair just 6 short months ago. Two broken legs, two broken arms and a broken neck thanks to a texting driver who crossed the centre lane and hit him on his motorcycle head on.

Now many know I am crippled up from a car crash, two buggered up feet, knees, low back, 4 compressed disks in my neck etc...and yes, there are a lot of things that I have had to learn to do creatively because I refuse to give in.

But seriously - 6 MONTHS AGO Will Skinner was in a wheelchair.

I witnessed the fatigue and pain in his face. I witnessed a man who no matter what, put a smile on his face and just kept on flipping burgers and dogs, cooking potatoes and SERVING OTHERS.

If that does not SPEAK VOLUMES of the character of the man, I seriously don't know what else could unless of course you also consider that Will slept in his seat in Jeremy's truck.

That's where both men slept. In a 3/4 ton Dodge flat deck pick up.

Then there were the others behind the scenes, the ones that no one in the main stream media wants to give any cudos to; the Hells Angels, the Syndicate, the Nomads and others - they set up a warehouse and supported the Redwater evacuee centre filling it three times and offered me help to garner air masks and filters the minute they heard of the need.

100 sets of air filters were taken to Fire Hall 3 in St Albert - courtesy of the men that so many hate.

When I told them of the need in Wandering River and Boyle - they were already all over Boyle and are now also taking up donations to Wandering River.

WHY? Why would these men that society hates and reviles so badly do that? Because it's what they always do in the time of need - they run by the same code that "bikers", "riders" everywhere follow, they are the ones in our community who taught this code to the rest of us - NEVER EVER LEAVE A BROTHER OR SISTER BEHIND.

They just never get any credit for the good things that they do, so most people only know to fear and hate them.

Then there is the flip side of that coin - the Wetaskiwin crew of the Alberta Sheriffs who ride. In an unofficial capacity, Kevin O'Conner and his crew, Malik, Lacy, Jeff Roblin (A1 Supply) and so many others in their network loaded up supplies donated by the Hutterite colonies in both Wetaskiwin and Camrose. Pine Colony in particular went way above and beyond in the quality and quantity of the things they donated. Fresh eggs, potatoes, onions, baking, home made sausage and so much more. They also had donations from John Deere, Coop and many individuals.

The crew from A1 Supply who donated the truck, trailer and fuel to deliver the supplies - are you starting to get the picture here?  Did you know these good people almost left after a 6 hour drive and a herculean effort to gather stuff without eating?  Their responses were "I feel like we would be taking away from the first responders".  I insisted they have a hot dog or something that driving all those hours without food was as dangerous as working without food. They capitulated finally when I ORDERED them to eat.

Then how about my family on Vancouver Island...Kristy Falconer from the Red Knights and all of the civilians and riders from Vancouver Island that filled a truck and trailer with supplies to go to the evacuee centre warehouse at the Edmonton Airport and then bring me supplies for the first responders like more foot care and pain medications, hydralyte and replenishing drinks. Her husband who drove, BC ferries who gave them free passage...

And one of my buddies named Gloria Swan who paid for masks and filters from money she fundraised for evacuee support.

Kimmy & Tony from Provost who gave my crew a trailer to sleep in and are now letting the guys from Rapid Fire use it for sleeping quarters...

There are businesses big and small that played their part in our supply chain:
Costco Grande Prairie - discount off of supplies purchased
UFA - Grande Prairie & Athabasca - free diesel for the first trip in
Honeywell - donation of 24 free air masks and filters
Greggs Distributors- discounts on air masks and filters
Brogan Safety Supply - discounts on air masks and filters
Shoppers Drug Mart Grande Prairie - discounts on insoles and foot care/personal products
London Drugs Grande Prairie - discounts on insoles and foot care/personal products
Screaming' Eagle Oilfield Sales out of Whitecourt - organized a ton off donations - tow truck loads.
Dave Perra from Perra Leatherworks in St Albert who drove a load up and a couple from Barrhead whose names I don't remember that drove a load up.

And the small businesses and citizens of GP who donated supplies in those first hours, like a single mom who helped out and an orthopaedic surgeon's office who donated and Full Draw Electric who delivered water and so many others with donations big and small.

Forever in my heart will I be grateful to these businesses and the individual people who stepped up in whatever way they could and I will be loyal with my pocket book to those businesses who helped me and the crew that stepped up to support me.

Many have asked how I was able to do what I did - I have family right across this country both blood and motorcycle related. I was able to do what I did because of each of them; those who donated their money, time and efforts - everyone of them doing their part.

I have been being criticized by some for what Global put out there in their interview, accusing me of "hogging" the limelight.  I have ZERO control of what they film compared to what hits the air.
They filmed for about an hour and used 2 minutes...Why am I getting cudo's in the media and they aren't?  Ask them, the main stream media

This is the Global Interview I have taken some shots over:
http://globalnews.ca/video/2701197/alberta-motorcyclist-revs-up-to-help-fort-mcmurray

The CBC let me give props to many of the people who helped me:

CBC - The Current Interview with Steve Quinn

Here are the links to MY Articles:

My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 1
My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 2
My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 3

I know all too well that I could not have done the work that I myself personally did if I had not had a whole ton of help and support.

For those who think that the people who get interviewed ever have control over what goes to air - think again.

I did MY personal part - making sandwiches and coffee - MOST of the time alone, and for that work I received hugs, a stuffed dalmatian, a challenge coin, a patch and a whole ton of letters and emails thanking me.

BUT I know and acknowledge that I was far from alone in this endeavour and from the very beginning made sure that I gave recognition and thanks to all involved, through posts on Facebook.

And now that I am home and able to write...please know there are many stories yet to come, many more people to thank and I aim to continue doing my best to show people the ARMY that I HAD behind me - every person, every club, every company....

I was the leader, the catalyst - the community answered the call to action - and those in my circle who did what they could deserve to get cudos too.

I WANT THEIR STORIES out there.

I want to leave you all with the most beautiful poem that was shared with me...every fire fighter I read it to cried their hearts out and I hope it gives you pause for thought...

Lisa Rufiange wrote this ...

With a heavy heart, I put pen to paper tonight. What follows is the result. I guess feel free to share if you find any measure of comfort in these words.

Now I lay me down to sleep
Safe in my bed but still I weep
I cry for those not in their homes
And pray for all of their unknowns

The days are long, the fires rage
As we reload our Facebook page
And read of heartache and of pain
While still the beast has not been slain

It took your home, your car, your land
And on uncertainty you stand
Such shakey ground beneath your feet
Your family safe, so bitter-sweet

Now feel the circle around your soul
You're not alone, we'll make you whole
We come together, tried and true
Canada eh? It's what we do

So rise up now and take my hand
I know you're hurt, I'll help you stand
The road ahead will be so long
I'll help you walk, ‪#‎AlbertaStrong‬

May 5, 2016

If you are blessed to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you!

Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider

My Time in Fort McMurray - Part 3

Some of the timings of different shipments and situations get's blurred as the days and nights blended into themselves.  And this story has to kind of jump around a bit - there are just so many stories of people helping out, working together...

On Thursday May 5th, Jeremy Hall and Will Skinner had arrived in the wee hours of the morning.
A lady named Nicole from Slave Lake, had sent up some yoga mats and about 150 Subway sandwiches and cookies with Jeremy. I don't know which of the three things were deemed more welcome by the guys but I do know that nothing went to waste. The cookies were brought out to my quick line and they vanished in the space of a couple of hours.

It was amazing to me to hear the comments about the food we had been handing out and that Jeremy & Will had been cooking.

Those comments were to become even more vocal, more appreciative over the next few days.

There were more and more fire teams moving into the Mac Island base camp.

Everywhere you looked you saw fire teams that represented our province.
Over the course of my time there I saw crews from:
Duchess, Redwater, St. Albert, Calgary, Didsbury, Sundre, Cremona, Fort McKay, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Leduc, Leduc County, Tomahawk, High River, Slave Lake, Lesser Slave Lake, Beiseker, Edmonton and on and on - I can't name them all as it became a blur...

All of Alberta it seemed was there - the show of support and solidarity became evident, really fast.

On top of the professional and volunteer teams on the ground there were industrial teams, Syncrude Fire Department, Suncor, Rapid Fire and again, there were so many oilfield fire fighting teams on the ground, I can't remember them all.

I didn't go in there to be a reporter. I went there to be a volunteer and so I never kept notes, and truly didn't use my camera much at all. I was simply too busy doing the job at hand.

When the camp kitchen was brought in late Thursday night early Friday morning, I thought to myself good, the need will drop down to the supplies people needed in their rigs. I was told that this camp kitchen would be making box lunches and serve hot meals.  Surely the pace would slow down some even though there were now somewhere around 500 - 600 fire fighters and equipment drivers calling this camp their base.

Was I wrong about the workload or the pace slowing down?  OH YEAH...

When I made these guys a sandwich, it had two pieces of texas bread, two slices of cheese, mustard, mayo and tucked in the middle was a generous helping of meat, either ham, chicken or roast beef, sometimes I mixed it up and blended meats. These sandwiches were meant to fill people.

I guess I spoiled these guys and gals a bit, at least when it came to sandwiches and coffee!

A lot of the guys were coming to me and asking me to build sandwiches for their fire teams - they called the camp kitchen the "Appy House". I found out quickly what they meant when a whole rack of these sandwiches were sent over to me from the camp. They had one or two thin slices of meat, a piece of cheese on a sub bun. I ended up opening up a lot of these sandwiches and adding more meat and cheese to them for a lot of the guys and gals.  (Some of the other things the camp made however, like the breakfast sandwiches were awesome and I was told they made very good spaghetti.)

The guys and gals, many of them enjoyed the BBQ'd food too and the BBQ ran until 3 and 4 in the morning every day. That didn't change after the camp kitchen came in, many it seemed preferred BBQ food to sit down meals in the camp kitchen.  I guess in many ways, variety was what was needed - choice.

By about 9 pm Friday, I had run out of the sandwich meat we had brought down.  We had brought 4 cases of the three tray packages from Costco, the Kirkland brand with our first load and Jeremy had brought 2 more cases with his load.  Lynda would be bringing me more in the early hours of Saturday morning so until then, I served the sandwiches the camp kitchen had made, often time taking two or three apart to make one larger, heftier sandwich.

Then there was the coffee - ours was strong and full flavoured, the camp's was much mellower than ours and the guys that came to the quick line were quick to comment on the difference.

The one thing I have learned about fire fighters and truck drivers is that they like their coffee strong, strong enough for a spoon to stand up in it!

We had gotten our own coffee makers on Thursday afternoon and we kept our own urns at the station. We were brewing up Folgers Black Silk Coffee - and when we ran out of that we had gotten Nabob coffee, dark roast - all paid for by donations from the motorcycle community.  Culligan was on site delivering water and when they realized what I was going through, they started giving me my own water supply so Matt and others didn't have to run so far to get me a jug. They dropped me a ton of the 5 gallon jugs over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday! Thank you Culligan!

The great big 50 cup coffee makers took about 2 and a 1/2 hours to make a pot, so I was making coffee with the little 12 cup pots and keeping my urns filled that way. It was a lot of work, but it meant people didn't often have to wait for coffee and it stayed fresh - I don't think a pot ever made it longer than 20 minutes before it was empty!

Here is a comment that Glenn Chaulk (left) wrote on his Facebook Page about the food and coffee :
This Angel goes by 'Belt Drive Betty'. When she heard about the state of emergency in our region, she packed up and pulled out of Grand Prairie for our city. She brought with her every possible safety item we could need. She also cooks and provides much needed home cooking. Her coffee could put Tim Horton's out of business and her personality is second to none. All for the low price of a smile! Belt Drive Betty, you are proof that Angels walk amongst us! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for caring.

Glenn is the man who gave me his personal challenge coin on Saturday. He's with Syncrude Fire Department.

                           
                     






Friday evening, after we ran out of sandwich meat, Matt Coffin manned my station for me and I went and had a cold shower.  Man did it feel good to be clean. My hair was matted and sticky with sweat and ash. It was gross.

It was far easier to keep my outdoor kitchen clean then it was my hair!

We had clorox wipes and I had lots of teflon mats for building sandwiches on and lots of knives that I had brought with me. We'd wash the mats and knives with cold water, then wipe them down with clorox wipes and re rinse with water to get rid of any bleach residue and wipe them down with paper towel.  It wasn't ideal, but it worked well.

I had two portable banquet coolers filled with ice to keep everything fresh.

I had cold bottled water, yogurt and coffee cream at the far end of the station where the coffee urns  and cups were and one on the other end of my station where I made the sandwiches and coffee.
All of the meats, cheese and condiments were kept out of the sun and the heat in that one.

It was a pretty neat little system considering the conditions in which we were working!

Me, well, I finally got a hat given to me on Thursday because no one could find me a pop up tent or a tarp that I could use to stay out of the sun.  I got so hot at one point that I doused myself with water and went and laid on the concrete in the shade until my body temperature went down. It was so bloody hot! On the outskirts of the city the news was saying it was 33 degrees but inside with all of the fires raging around us I am sure the temperature reached 40+ degrees. The air was filled with ash and the burnt needles off of trees. Every time I thought about complaining about the heat I'd think of the teams fighting the beast and shut up.

We still had no gas at the centre so the showers available were all cold and when the hot shower camp arrived Saturday morning, the line ups were LONG! The smiles on the faces of the people coming out of those shacks were priceless and reflected the sense of total contentment that had been found for a few moments.

A laundry shack also arrived on Saturday morning and boy was that a welcome sight, keeping people supplied with clean towels, socks etc had become very, very challenging.

Little things, things we take for granted every day became big things, bonding things and cause for celebration.

More stories to follow....

If you are blessed enough to be riding today, please remember to ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you.


Belt Drive Betty
Editor & Rider