Around 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Stacie Combs looked out the window of her room at the Ruth Lake Lodge in Fort MacKay and saw clouds of smoke behind a chain of vehicles on the highway.
“I looked out my window and the highway was completely deadlocked. Nobody could get on or off. Our whole parking lot was full,” said the Kamloopsian who is currently in the middle of her 21-day rotation working as a chef at the Ruth Lake Lodge. “People with their dogs and cats and everyone was lined up out of the door trying to get into the lodge.”
According to Combs, the lodge is currently accommodating close to 2,000 evacuees with multiple families sharing one room and bed.
“We normally serve dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The lineup was out the door until 11 p.m. last night,” said Combs. “We pretty much ran out of everything, but we found a box of this and a box of that so they’d have something to eat.
“There are people crying, on their phones … it’s horrific. Many people have lost homes.”
Located about 20 minutes away from Fort McMurray, the fire is unlikely to reach the lodge, said Combs.
Over 1,600 structures have been lost in Fort McMurray so far with the fire expected to worsen. No reports of any deaths or injuries have been reported.
