1

In May 2016, a devastating wildfire in Alberta forced the evacuation of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes all of the residents in Fort McMurray. More than 80,000 people were forced to seek safety and shelter away from their homes. The Canadian Red Cross was on the ground early to help provide assistance throughout the month-long evacuation and after people returned home. Two years later, the Red Cross remains in the region and is committed to helping the people who were impacted recover at their own pace.

For long-time Fort McMurray resident Jessica Weber, it was a surreal experience returning to the home where she had grown up after last May’s devastating fire. Fire crews weren’t able to reach the house, which was on an acreage that had been in her family for three generations. 

Darrin Bourque peers out across what remains of the forest that surrounds his family’s trapline. Scorched trees, reminiscent of giant toothpicks, replace the once dense boreal forest associated with the landscape of northern Alberta.

There’s no doubt 2016 was a challenging year for many people who experienced disasters such as the Alberta fires and Hurricane Matthew, or who fled their home as a result of armed conflict.

​We want to cap off the year by sharing some of the most inspiring and heartwarming Red Cross stories from 2016 to show humanity at its best. What inspired you this year?