Fort McMurray wildfire: P.E.I. woman recounts 'scariest day of my life'

A Stratford, P.E.I., woman is happy to be home after what she says was easily the scariest day of her life.

"I am so incredibly thankful to be home," Ashley MacLeod said Wednesday, hours after stepping off a plane from Fort McMurray, Alta.

MacLeod was in the city during the massive wildfire that left thousands of people fleeing for safety.

"The entire sky was red and grey and black and really, really scary," she said. "It was easily the scariest day of my life."

Worried family on P.E.I.

It was also scary for MacLeod's family back home on P.E.I. as they scrambled to get information.

Ashley's father, Allan MacLeod, has been living and working in Fort McMurray for nine years, but happened to be back on the Island on Tuesday as the wildfire burned out of control.

I was standing at the end of my driveway with the clothes on my back and my dog.— Ashley MacLeod

"There were moments we couldn't get ahold of her and it was quite stressful," he told CBC Radio's Island Morning on Wednesday.

But the two did manage to communicate via text message and Facebook.

MacLeod said his daughter told him the early part of the day was nice and she even ran some errands in the morning.

But when the situation worsened, he told her to head to the airport while he worked to secure her a flight back to the Island.

'On a rollercoaster'

MacLeod said each message from his daughter was "a combination of terror and relief."

"You're on a rollercoaster when everything's going on," he said.

Ashley MacLeod wasn't originally in the evacuation zone, "but by the time the ash started falling and it was getting very very hot, that's when everybody took it upon themselves to ... we need to get out of here."

She tried calling for cabs, but none were available, so she relied on the "kindness of strangers" to get to the airport.

"I was standing at the end of my driveway with the clothes on my back and my dog," she said.

"A police officer pulled over, he said, 'Get in.' I got in the back of his car, he got me as far as he could and then I hitchhiked the rest of the way. I met some really incredibly kind people."

Relieved to be home

The trip to the airport — which would normally take about 10 minutes — took her two hours.

"If you weren't panicked already, seeing all the cars backed up and everybody trying to get out as quickly as possible it was really really scary," she said.

Getting off that plane this morning felt really really good.— Ashley MacLeod

As her plane took off for home, MacLeod wondered what would be left of Fort McMurray.

"As we took off all we could pretty much see was white smoke, and as we got through the smoke it sort of turned grey and black and you could see the flames from the air," she said.

Her family was relieved to see her safe and sound back on P.E.I.

"It was easily the scariest thing any of us has ever had to deal with, so getting off that plane this morning felt really really good," she said.

• MORE P.E.I. STORIES | Fort McMurray wildfire seen through the eyes of Islanders there
• MORE P.E.I. STORIES | Fort McMurray skyline was 'engulfed in flames,' says Island woman