Alberta family devastated by wildfire shares survival story
'It can be hard to believe that a fire can move so quickly and so fast'
Eryn Davies was still in disbelief as the modest trailer where she had raised her daughter withered, blackened and eventually disintegrated under the heat of the encroaching flames.
Davies was just four days away from giving birth to her second child when a massive wildfire destroyed her home near Gibbons on May 5th, 2009.
"Fire is an incredible force of nature, and when I hear about other people going through this experience I really do feel for them. It's a really, really scary time," Davies said during an interview Wednesday on CBC Edmonton's Radio Active.
"It can be hard to believe that a fire can move so quickly and so fast."
Recent wildfires prompt painful memories
As wildfires prompted evacuation orders in communities across Alberta this week, Davies hopes others can learn from the loss she felt on that Tuesday night seven years ago, and her failure to take the emergency seriously.
"It can be a little traumatic for me," said Davies. "Even now, when I see smoke in the distance, I go out and I look for it. If we see smoke, we go out to investigate. I'm very watchful."
The wildfire was a painful interruption on happy times for Davies and her family.
Pregnant and a week overdue, Davies and her husband Edward Kneller had been busy preparing for the baby's arrival and overseeing the early days of construction of the 'dream home' they were building on their property.
The first signs of the fire came shortly before noon. The couple were at home with Davies' sister and their 22-month old daughter, Avalyn, when a thick blanket of smoke moved in.
Her husband drove off down the road to investigate, and after seeing the fire up close, he came back home with one conclusion: if the wind changed, they would be in big trouble.
In an attempt to protect their new home, he began dousing the roof with a garden hose.
But Davies wasn't convinced their property was in any imminent danger, and decided to continue on to a doctor's appointment she had booked for her daughter, who was wailing and feverish with an ear infection.
Within minutes of arriving at the clinic, she got a call from her sister, who was still back at the trailer.
"My sister called and said that we were being evacuated. She said, 'We have five minutes to get out, and what would you like me to take?' It happened fast, really fast," Davies said.
"I wish I had cancelled that doctor's appointment that day, stayed home and just started gathering stuff."
Davies' sister grabbed her hospital bag and the two family dogs as a police officer waited impatiently outside.
"She was quite panicked," Davies said. "I think at that point I was still in a state of disbelief."
By the time Davies returned home, blockades had been set up along the road leading their acreage.
They went over to a neighbour's a few miles away and waited.
'I don't take the fire for granted'
Although their new home was saved, it was heavily smoke damaged, and the blaze had torched most of their 80 acres property. They lost a truck and six out-buildings, greenhouses, animal shelters, and more than half of the trees on the lot.
"We were very, very lucky that the new house didn't burn, but it was still quite devastating," Davies said.
"And our son, Bowdry, ended up arriving four days after the fire, so it was a very interesting time for us."
The couple moved in with the in-laws for three weeks. A garage that managed to escape the flames became their home for three months after that.
"It's a large, two-door garage, it had vehicles in it prior, so we pulled the vehicles out and set up a little house in there, with some beds and a little kitchen area, but there was no running water, " Davies said.
"All this with a toddler and a brand new baby. It was very stressful."
The family recovered quickly, thanks to help from the community. But watching other families cope with wildfire season can still be a traumatic experience for Davies.
"It's certainly more real for me now, having gone through it," Davies said.
"And now I know, if there is potential for evacuation, or there is a fire in the area, it's best just to take precautions....I'm very aware now, I don't take the smoke and I don't take the fire for granted."