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The signs of hope, strength and recovery are everywhere now when I visit Fort McMurray and the surrounding region in northern Alberta. It’s been slightly more than nine months since wildfires wiped out so much for so many there, and when I talk with people in Wood Buffalo, I still hear their struggles. But increasingly, I also hear more optimism.

There are various ways to celebrate the holiday season and many use decorations such as trees, lights and candles to show a festive spirit. Lighting candles, stringing ornaments, decking trees all make for merry holidays with friends and family, but it’s important to be aware of accidents at this time of year. Every year, common incidents include falling off ladders while hanging lights or decorations, cutting hands or fingers with scissors while wrapping or assembling toys, as well as electrical shocks.

In the middle of the night on Sunday, October 9, a house fire left six people in Bishop’s Falls without a home. Luckily, the residents of the small town in Newfoundland all had places they could stay that night. That morning, Thanksgiving, the local Red Cross was called. 

The Red Cross blanket hanging on the wall of Jason Grant’s new home is a reminder of the help he received when a fire forced him out of his previous home. In May, a fire damaged his central Winnipeg apartment building and he was forced to leave his home. “Basically, I had nowhere to stay,” said Grant.

Fire races through a picturesque valley in southeast B.C. People flee the charging flames, some in just their bathing suits after a swim in the Kettle River. In just a few hours, in August 2015, a raging wildfire forced people from Rock Creek to Westbridge to drop everything, and evacuate.

When Robert Waniandy fled the Alberta wildfires with just a garbage bag full of clothes, the 65-year-old had no idea when or where he would see his wife again. The smoke and chaos in Fort McMurray had prompted his wife, Annie Auger, 71, to leave Fort McMurray a few days earlier. When Waniandy, a retired welder, finally reached the evacuation centre at Edmonton’s Expo Centre, he felt so sick that he could only lie listlessly on his cot. Concerned volunteers transferred him to the Royal Alexandra hospital, where he discovered his wife had also been admitted with health issues.

Need help with gas? Have a question about your accommodation? Don’t worry. Volunteers with Canadian Red Cross are ready, well-trained and able to help with hundreds of concerns raised daily by people forced to flee the Alberta wildfires.

Audrey Redcrow is eager to return home to Fort McKay.  But she’s scared of what she may find when she gets there. Audrey, her four children, and their Siberian Husky, Diesel, were evacuated from their northern community on May 7 after the fire threatening Fort McMurray moved towards Fort McKay First Nation.