Citizen Bytes: Chantal Tkach - Slave Lake resident

Views of the scorched earth - formerly pristine homes - demonstrate the breadth and intensity of devastation in Slave Lake. Among the wreckage lie the ruins of Chantal Tkach's house, which she photographed herself. (Submitted by Chantal Tkach)

Bio: Chantal Tkach is a resident of Slave Lake and mother of two. After evacuating the town Sunday evening, she drove with her son and daughter to Edmonton to stay with friends. She recalled the experience of having to leave home to the CBC Community team in a phone interview.

*Note: This interview has been edited for length.

My story: It was around suppertime Sunday. I was looking at the sky and thought, "oh, this looks just horrible." I drove home, tried to get a few things together, packed them in a box and put them by the door - photos and a few things. But I have a dog. And I really just wanted my dog.

By the evening a black smoke cloud was rolling in. And it just dropped to the ground. You couldn't see anything. It felt pitch dark.

Then at the end of the street ... well it was on fire. Right then they realized the fire had breached the highway. I live close to [Highway] 88 and you could see it blazing from my house.

So emergency vehicles immediately came with sirens, their lights flashing. I could see the fire just about a half block away. So I drove another half a block to my girlfriend's, picked her up. Then we went to get my daughter and my son. My daughter had phoned me that the tanker base had just shut down. And my son had been helping friends in Widewater. He lost his truck.

I've never been so scared. It was black and couldn't see anything. We got out on the highway in a lineup. It was so slow, and you could see behind you the houses were burning behind you. A fireman was walking by the car and I asked him what was happening. He said, "All communication is down. Just go."

I talked to someone else who was trying to make it back to their house before it burned. I had called her. "The Mormon church is on fire. Get going. Get out," I told her.

We turned around to try and go west. We got about 20 kilometres west, but the road was closed. Which was terrifying, because you know that 88 is closed. And we're there feeling trapped.

My daughter, who's actually a pilot, lost it all. That's devastating. All her things. She just got back home from being in school with all her stuff.

In one of those photos is my home, a hole in the ground. Everything's gone. So we're all in this together.

With all this, there's wonderful people. You can't say enough about the people helping and wanting to help.

You left family or friends behind, and they're fighting to do what they can do so that people can come back. Just the support is a great. I know everyone wants to do something. It's very impressive. But I think everyone's kind of waiting to hear and what to do next.

CBC News community members have been helping to tell the story of the Slave Lake wildfires through their first-person accounts, photos and videos.

Please send your own photos, videos or stories to: yournews@cbc.ca or upload here.

RELATED LINKS:

• Audio Slideshow: Three Slave Lake evacuees share their stories
• Citizen Bytes: Michael Kapusta - Slave Lake student
  
• Citizen Bytes: Michael J. Leonard - Slave Lake photos
  
• Citizen Bytes: Len Ramsey - Slave Lake high school teacher
• Citizen Bytes: David Leighton - Slave Lake evacuee