Woman evacuated from Fort McMurray heads home to Halifax

Courtney Keating could see the flames in the backyard as she and her family fled Fort McMurray.

"All of a sudden it just went black," she recalled.

She gathered her four children and two dogs, and got ready to leave. But Keating, who lives in Abasand, doesn't drive. 

"I got my children strapped into their car seats, got my dogs into the van, and I just went out in the street outside my house and yelled for anybody to please help us drive out," she said.

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Keating managed to get out of Abasand and meet up with her husband. Then, they drove 13 hours down to Edmonton. They were looking to go home to Halifax where Keating's parents live but couldn't afford the gas and hotel costs to get there.

"When we got here, we had $600 in our bank account," she said from Edmonton. 

Keating posted on Facebook seeking donations and assistance for her and her four kids. A woman named Rosy Borkowski responded to Keating's post and began helping her out. But it didn't stop there.

"When Rosy found out that we planned to head back east, she started trying to find homes for us to stay in along the way," Keating said. "We had no idea how we would pay for hotels. We figured we would have to sleep in our van."

So began the Canadian Angel Network, a group of people across Canada who are opening their homes to those impacted by the wildfires.

"We are providing them with accommodations, we are providing them with donations and clothing, food, anything they do require to help them on the journey back home," said Borkowski.

Borkowski says there are more than 45 "angels" standing by ready to help.  

"Now, there's over a dozen homes that are complete strangers that are all just opening their doors to families that are travelling back east," Keating said.

Keating and her family hope to start the long journey home on Thursday morning.