For the first time since they were forced to leave their community behind amid a raging wildfire, the residents of Fort McMurray were able to get some of their pressing questions answered by Premier Rachel Notley and other officials.
A phone and online town hall meeting was held on Monday night and one of the first questions posed to Notley had to do about timelines of when residents will be allowed to go home.
She said that it would be some time before anyone would be let back into Fort McMurray. Notley admitted that the planning process alone would take two weeks.
While it was an upsetting answer for many evacuees, Notley said there are still a number of safety issues that will need to be addressed.
Downed power lines will need to be fixed, key infrastructure will need to be repaired, essential services will need to be restored and a number of lingering hot spots must be extinguished.
Home will also have to be inspected and there is no water, power, waste disposal or natural gas services in place.
Many evacuees, like Michael Trueman, think the two week timeline is way too long. He wants the government to do more so he can get home faster and assess the damage for himself.
"They should be allowed to go back and check stuff out and see if their place is still up and what not," he said."It has been great that the helicopters have tried to show us some areas."
Trueman says he lived in community of five years and he is off work because of the wildfire. His concern is more his job, but he knows that some people have lost much more.
He is concerned about when he'll be working again. "It could be two weeks, it could be four weeks, it could be three to six months - you just don't know."
Trueman did have a message for Notley. "Bring as many people as you can to go and help Fort Mac."
Back at the evacuation shelter in Lac La Biche, the tension is palpable. The initial shock of the escape from the burning community has worn off and officials with Victims' Services say stress is setting in.
Many people CTV spoke with at the centre say they're tired of the living conditions, but have nowhere else to go otherwise. They're even turning to bad habits because of it.
"I can tell you there are people who have never done drugs before this all started, but they don't know what to do, so they just turn to whatever they can to settle their stress," said Gordon Janvier.
Daniel Herman, who was told to leave his home in Janvier, said the situation is getting to him. "I am really, really distressed and stressed out and tired."
Notley said it is important for people to follow the timeline the government has put forward and if anyone tries to go back early, they will be turned away.
"Don't drive the four hours only to be told by the RCMP at the check points outside of Fort McMurray that you have to turn around and go all the way back," said Notley. "There are smouldering hot spots everywhere."
The province says it is working on a plan to offer the 274 people left at the shelter in Lac La Biche more permanent housing.
Earlier in the day, Notley and a number of other officials addressed the media with an update on the wildfire situation following an official tour of Fort McMurray.
“I will say that I was very much struck by the power of the devastation of the fire. It was really quite overwhelming in some spots,” said Notley. “I was similarly struck by the proximity of that devastation to neighbourhoods that were untouched and it reinforced to me how much work and how much success was achieved over the last few days by those heroic firefighters.”
About 2,400 structures in Fort McMurray were destroyed while 25,000 were saved through the efforts of fire crews.
The wildfire has turned eastward, heading towards Saskatchewan. Cooler weather this week is expected to help contain it, but officials say it is still considered ‘out of control’.
Over 200,000 hectares, or more than twice the size of the City of Calgary, has been burned by the wildfire.
Additional town hall meetings will be held on May 10,11 and 12 from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., click HERE to listen online.
