A shot of the wildfire as it approached the Thickwood area in Fort McMurray on Tuesday. (Photo submitted: Kenny Murduff)
It will likely be two weeks or longer before Picton native Kenny Murduff will be allowed to return to his home in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray.
The former Picton Pirate is one of 80,000 ordered out last Tuesday when a wildfire, pushed by shifting winds, overwhelmed several neighbourhoods.
Murduff played with the Rats from 2012 to 2014. He was the assistant captain on the Picton team when they won the Ontario Junior “C” Hockey championship for the first time in 2013.
Kenny Murduff on the far left poses with Picton Pirates coaching staff, manager Ryan Woodward (m) and fellow player Brandon Peever at championship in 2013. (Photo: Nicole Kleinsteuber / Quinte News)
The 22-year-old moved to Fort McMurray two years ago after being accepted in the Criminal Justice program at Keyano College where he now plays for the Keyano Huskies hockey team.
Murduff was at work painting a soccer field in the Thickwood area for Lorco Management and Design when the fire spiraled out of control.
(Photo submitted: Kenny Murduff)
Looking back Murduff said he is still in shock.
Murduff explained that because of the chaos it took him an hour to drive to his downtown home and get his dog. Once on the road he was rerouted north to secure refuge at one of the oil sites because the fire had jumped Highway 63 making it impossible to head south to Edmonton.
The next day Murduff took an exhausting 24 hour drive to an already packed evacuation centre in Edmonton.
He said he decided to give his spot to someone who needed it more and is now staying with his girl friend and her parents in Edmonton.
Murduff said right now it’s a waiting game and everyone is just waiting to go home. Murduff beamed about the community he proudly calls home. He said the residents of Fort McMurray are hard working and he is confident the community will rebuild and flourish again soon.
About 2,400 buildings, mostly homes, are lost and by today (Tuesday) there are already signs that reconstruction work has begun in Fort McMurray.
Teams are working on power lines into the city, and Fire Chief Darby Allen says everything is being done to get people back to the community as soon as possible.
The Red Cross has collected $60 million dollars in donations, including $250,000 dollars from the four Atlantic provinces and $500,000 dollars from Unifor, the union representing 4,000 oil sands workers.
The City of Belleville has committed $5,000 to relief efforts and The Empire Theatre is hosting a fundraising concert on May 18.
