Paul Spring watched from his chopper as his home in Fort McMurray burned to the ground. For him, the fight has been personal.
“It’s the home my wife and I first bought when we moved here,” he said through glassy eyes. “Both our kids were born and came from the hospital to that house.
“It’s personal, but it’s just a house. We can rebuild it.”
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The Phoenix heli-flight owner/pilot and his crew have been battling the blaze in and around Fort McMurray since Day 1. The fire even sent them fleeing from their own hangars, and they continue to see flare-ups around their yard, with two in as many days.
“Last night just in this forest here, the fire flared up again,” he said, while waking around the torched perimeter of his livelihood. “One of our mechanics went out with a pail, got water from our pond, and was dousing the flames at one in the morning.”
The Springs have set up a camp for their crew members at their hangars, not far from the Fort McMurray International Airport. They have been trying to adjust to life in a city with no services or familiar faces.
“A tooth was talking to me and I went, ‘ah there’s no dentist’ and we have a really old dog…and I think there’s no vet,” said Paul’s wife, Andrea, who has been playing the role of everything from organizer to camp mom.
“What do I miss? I miss a normal day.”
“But this is the new normal,” she said. “I feel bad for the people who aren’t here and want to be, I feel sorry for the people who are waiting,” she said, holding back tears. “Even the ones who are irritating,” she laughed.
READ MORE: ‘Extreme’ air quality conditions in Fort McMurray could delay re-entry plans
Breathing in the thick, heavy smoke daily, the Springs are charging forward. Paul refuses to discuss suggestions he’s a “hero in the sky,” insisting he is just a man who is doing his job trying to help the city he loves. He hopes residents will get their fair share of input on how it’s rebuilt.
“We need to get the city reopened as much as we can and get business functioning again…and at least bring as many people back to town as possible, as long as it’s safe to do,” he said. “If we wait until the fall, winter is coming. It’s going to be that much tougher to get in.”
He and his pilots are waiting anxiously every morning for the smoke to lift so they can get the machines in the air and do what they can to keep flames far away from their already damaged city.
READ MORE: 5 days covering the wildfire – Paul Haysom’s stories from Fort McMurray