A Fort McMurray couple arrived back in the city today hoping to be escorted to their wildfire-ravaged home to search through the rubble.
Instead, Terry and Tanya Brittain pulled up in front of the driveway that used to lead to their Beacon Hill home, pulled on safety equipment and cut through the fence themselves.
âWeâve called three times to the Rubicon company with no response back,â said Tanya Brittain, referring to Team Rubicon, the disaster response team helping to clean up the area and sift through the ashes.
Upon pulling up to the site, Tanya Brittain remarked that their patio set was still standing, but their house was not.
The two sifted through the rubble finding items such as Tanya Brittainâs grandmotherâs sterling silver tea set and her daughterâs earrings and necklaces. Their time to themselves was short-lived however, as the RCMP turned up.
âThis is my property. Iâm being safe,â Terry Brittain said, pointing to his mask and safety suit.
RCMP recognized that this was his property, but werenât convinced to let them stay.
âThere are sharp things in there. There are thing that we donât know about, thereâre basements,â said Bob Couture, director of emergency management. âIf you donât know what youâre doing youâre going to get hurt.â
In the meantime, the couple have the few trinkets that they found which, according to Tanya Brittain, may not be much but itâs all they have.
Residents whose homes are standing but are in an area that is fenced off were also allowed back to see and search through their homes for belongings.
With a report by CTV Edmontonâs Shanelle Kaul