# Man loses fish tank in forest fire in Canada...



## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

Hey everyone,

Some of you may have seen this on the news, but a massive forest fire has caused the evacuation of the entire city of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada. They estimate 1600 homes & buildings have burned down and over 80 000 people have been evacuated. We are looking at up to $9 billion in industry losses in our province right now, so this is a huge blow to Alberta. The horror stories of people having less than 5min to pack up their lives and run before the flames burned their house down is absolutely heart breaking.

This poor man's house burning down was captured on his security camera. What broke my heart was seeing his beautiful fish tank be destroyed, including his 2 clown fish. http://www.metronews.ca/news/edmonton/2016/05/05/man-watches-house-burn-on-security-cam.html

More news on this fire can be found at http://www.cbc.ca/news

So this is my heartfelt plea to any of you who might be reading this to consider donating to the Canadian Red Cross to support the Alberta Fires Appeal relief fund. Currently our federal government is offering to match all donations until the end of May, with no ceiling/cap. If you can't donate, please consider sharing the link on any social media you may have https://donate.redcross.ca/ea-actio...id=50610&_ga=1.176774444.825193256.1462411099

I've added a picture here to show you the size of this fire in comparison to New York. It is expected to double in size by the end of today. 

Thanks so much everyone,


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Having been only a few doors down from where multiple people died in the worst bushfires to hit our country, any time I see fires like this, it just makes my heart ache. 

It's such a terrible loss of property, habitat, and life (both human and animal). I can't imagine what these people are going through, and I remember how long it took communities and the landscape here, to recover.


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## Olivia27 (Nov 26, 2015)

I'm so sorry to hear this  I'll see what I can do


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

LittleBettaFish said:


> Having been only a few doors down from where multiple people died in the worst bushfires to hit our country, any time I see fires like this, it just makes my heart ache.
> 
> It's such a terrible loss of property, habitat, and life (both human and animal). I can't imagine what these people are going through, and I remember how long it took communities and the landscape here, to recover.


Amazingly no one died as a direct result of this fire, although 2 people died in a car crash on the highway trying to escape it :-( One of those victims was a 15-year old girl.

Some of the videos from dashcams of people escaping the inferno are terrifying. 30 feet high flames right on the side of the road - it's a miracle that many people escaped unharmed


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

While there is loss of life in bush fires, they are needed in the Australian bush.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I saw that footage. I couldn't believe how close the fire was, and especially when I saw a few people on motorcycles trying to flee. 

I don't know what I would do if I was under mandatory evacuation and had to leave my pets behind. I think they tried to bring that in here but people seem to want to stay and defend. 

What was heartbreaking was watching the footage of people evacuating and then seeing houses in the background slowly catch on fire from embers falling in the yard.

Yeah NickAu, but not the kind of ferocious fires we've been having. It's taken years and years for the Kinglake bush to recover.


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

LittleBettaFish said:


> I saw that footage. I couldn't believe how close the fire was, and especially when I saw a few people on motorcycles trying to flee.
> 
> I don't know what I would do if I was under mandatory evacuation and had to leave my pets behind. I think they tried to bring that in here but people seem to want to stay and defend.
> 
> ...


My heart has absolutely broken for people who had to abandon their pets. People are still scrambling to rescue them but it's hard to get into the city right now.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

Yes it is a disaster here. Many people are helping get pets out. I saw one lady who escaped with 2 dogs 2 cats and her betta fish in tiny water bottle and the betta made it out alive.


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

logisticsguy said:


> Yes it is a disaster here. Many people are helping get pets out. I saw one lady who escaped with 2 dogs 2 cats and her betta fish in tiny water bottle and the betta made it out alive.


Do you know who the woman is? I'm in Edmonton and I have a spare 3G acrylic tank she could have to house him. Pump is broken but better than a water bottle!


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## Crash (Jul 19, 2015)

I just saw the footage this morning. I'm amazed so many people made it out! It looked terrifying, amazing how quickly forest fires can get out of hand.


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

The Canadian Red Cross donations is now at $60 million. Thank you to anyone here who helped with that!!


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

My heart breaks whenever I see flood or fires devastate other cities. 
I could barely watch the video of it destroying his house. It looks a lot like the inside of my parents. I'll see if I can spare some money. C:

Here in texas, we are strangers to neither. Back in 2011, we had a wildfire cover parts of 3 counties. That same fire evacuated my cousins and stopped 10 miles from where I lived, only 3 from my cousin's farm and I had to drive into the smoke to get her home after the evacuation was issued with her bawling in my passenger seat. We both thought she was going to lose her farm and everything on it, which included 40 head of Boer goats, two horses, four cows, 8 dogs, numerous cats and chickens. All they had was one big horse trailer and a small one. They only managed to load up thier horses and their top goats (I was helping) before the police came around and forced us out. Then, the next day I was 40 miles away in college, watching the fire radar update and just dreading that it would slip past where they were containing it and destroy me and my family's homes.


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## XTashX (Jan 7, 2016)

logisticsguy said:


> Yes it is a disaster here. Many people are helping get pets out. I saw one lady who escaped with 2 dogs 2 cats and her betta fish in tiny water bottle and the betta made it out alive.


Don't want to sound controversial here but I can't imagine ever leaving my pets behind. Like never. I can imagine putting my fish in bottles too. If there is a fire around, even if it is not close to me but had a chance of getting my home I would have a evacuation plan put in place so my whole family gets out. I know fires can spread very quickly, so maybe this can't always be put in place. My pets are family this includes my 3 birds, 1 guinea pig and fish. It might not be pretty, might be a few feathers ruffled so to speak, but I would attempt to get everyone out even if it meant I died trying. I know this sounds extreme but that's how I feel. Everyone is different. And I know thank goodness I have not been put in this situation, and I really hope everyone who has been affected by this tragedy can come back from this. And I hate to say it but alot of people don't care for their pets when push comes to shove and don't hesitate to abandon them, not saying this is the case with everyone but some people are like that...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I don't think you actually _can_ go back in if you are under mandatory evacuation. 

If you are away from your home (say at work), and they block the roads, you don't have a choice. 

I'm not saying I wouldn't risk my life to save my pets, but a lot of people don't leave their pets behind by choice. 

We have had a number of people die here in Australia because they were trying to rescue pets. 

I suppose it's a very hard, and very personal choice to make. Is a cat or dog worth the pain an individual's death would cause their family and friends? I mean when a pet dies, most people grieve and then replace it. However, you can't do the same for a person.


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## XTashX (Jan 7, 2016)

Me and my husband have been together for 10 yrs, we have never wanted kids (we are 30 now). So for us our pets are our kids so that may be why. We are the "crazy" ones :lol:

But I get what your saying, if it was between him and them and I could only choose one it would be him, but I would still do my damnedest to rescue them all!

I know what you mean by alot of people don't leave their pets behind by choice, but some people do - these are the same people that shouldn't be allowed to own animals in the first place. I know I look at the negative alot.

I saw this one man who had property and all these horses, he did not have time to do anything, the fire was right on him, so he just opened their gates to give them a sporting chance. Poor guy, but at least the horses were not contained and had a chance.... never found out what happened, just remember seeing it on the news a few years ago, never forgot it though, the footage was captured by a chopper.


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## NickAu (Sep 28, 2015)

> I don't think you actually _can_ go back in if you are under mandatory evacuation.
> 
> If you are away from your home (say at work), and they block the roads, you don't have a choice.


I used to live in the Blue Mountains in NSW, and we went thru some huge fires over the years and I can tell you once the roads are closed they stay that way for the duration to civilian in bound traffic, Emergency services only.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

We almost got made to turn around by police when we were driving up to my grandparents' farm during the Black Saturday bushfires. At that time no one expected the fire to be as bad as it was, so my dad was allowed to go through. 

As such a large number of people died in that fire, and some on that same road, I still wonder how that poor policeman must have felt in the days after. 

Terrible thing bushfires. Like seeing the aftermath of an atomic bomb go off.


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## Destinystar (May 26, 2012)

Many prayers for the people of Canada dealing with these terrible wildfires . It's beyond devastating


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

One of Fort McMurray's suburbs that burned down had only one road in and out. The elementary school that was that neighbourhood couldn't get a bus in to help ship the kids out because of how many people were trying to rush to their homes. The teachers ended up evacuating the kids in their private vehicles because the flames were becoming visible from the school. Just to give you a sense of the urgency and lack of time these people had.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

I've been watching the fires since they broke out and isn't that the tar sands region? I wonder if that is causing the fire to burn longer and hotter...

Keeping everyone in our prayers daily.


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## logisticsguy (Sep 7, 2012)

LittleStar said:


> I've been watching the fires since they broke out and isn't that the tar sands region? I wonder if that is causing the fire to burn longer and hotter...
> 
> Keeping everyone in our prayers daily.


The oil sands are north of Fort McMurray. The fire did not damage any of the oil sands infrastructure. This fire burned quickly and hot due to high wind conditions that kept changing directions and dry boreal forest. We didn't get much snow this year and last week high temperatures. Good news is much of the city 80% was saved due to the heroic efforts of fire fighters.


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

That is good to hear, and strange to hear at the same time. That a fire can somehow cause an evacuation of all the citizens yet leave the oil industry totally unharmed. Seems to me it should have been the other way around.


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## tanimal (May 30, 2015)

LittleStar said:


> That is good to hear, and strange to hear at the same time. That a fire can somehow cause an evacuation of all the citizens yet leave the oil industry totally unharmed. Seems to me it should have been the other way around.


The oil itself was unharmed but the industry definitely took a hit. Many companies had to shut down operations or reduce it to bare operating minimum. It definitely will be a hit on Alberta's oil economy


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## LittleStar (Oct 2, 2015)

Other than one Christian organization I can't find any relief efforts online. My heart goes out to all of those evacuees especially if they've lost their homes, pets, loved ones.


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## MyBabiesHaveScales (Aug 24, 2015)

That video breaks my heart, especially when the caption says the man bought his home only weeks ago. I am Canadian as well, although from Manitoba. The videos are unbelievable, I am glad the news of this are spreading to the Americans as well - not much Canadian news makes it out of Canada, it seems. The more knowledge, the more help, the better. Thank you for sharing this <3 A forest fire is breaking out in Manitoba as well, at the Manitoba-Ontario border. It is in the Whiteshell, a very popular park to camp. People's cottages have burned as well as the surrounding forests, where many campgrounds, backcountry trails, and other wilderness sites are. The trails are not set to reopen for at least a year due to damage. It's a shame that nature's necessary fires to regenerate forests cause such awful losses. Although the Whiteshell fire is small compared to Fort Mac, it is as real and frightening as it much closer to me (geographically) and I have been there multiple times. My heart goes out to everyone involved in the tragedy in Alberta.


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## brandy3392 (May 15, 2016)

LittleBettaFish said:


> a lot of people don't leave their pets behind by choice


Unfortunately, that is often the case. I was forced to leave all my fish behind 5 years ago when my house flooded. There was a 90 gallon and 2 55 gallon tanks full of fish. But there was simply nothing that could be done. I still feel really bad about it.

Here are a couple of my tanks post flood. My tipped over 90 gallon tank in the lower right corner. One of the 55 gallon tanks in the lower left.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Personally I can understand leaving fish behind in an emergency. It takes a lot more effort to catch, transport, and then subsequently find accommodation for fish, than it does for a dog or cat, both of which can be loaded into a car or carrier, and then boarded at a kennels etc. if necessary.

I was talking more about the fact that _most_ people don't just leave their pets behind (and I'm talking more cats and dogs in this instance) unless forced to. As was the case with these fires, where it seemed like many pet owners were simply unable to return to their homes to collect their pets as the roads were blocked.


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## MysticSky22301 (Apr 16, 2016)

I have a bit of an evacuation plan csys in the kennel dogs in the cab Bettas can be carried out in their respective tanks the smaller normal tanks can be partially drained an carried then the goldfish go in buckets 

The part of Iowa I live in is prone to flooding and they have been working on the levy


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