Fort McMurray residents air grievances at city's 1st council meeting

Councillors in Wood Buffalo faced frustration and anger Tuesday as theymetfor the first time in Fort McMurraysince a wildfire forced an evacuation of the city six weeks ago.

At thestanding-room-onlymeeting, residents were eager to giveventto their feelings and express concerns,including Andrew Thornewho beggedto know who was responsible forthe situation erodingso quickly.

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"Who did what, when, and where?" he askedthe 11 council members. "You don't getinto a cage with a lion, and you don't let a forest fire burn that close to a city.

"And we did that for two days, and I trusted whoever was in charge to do that properly. And they put me and my children at risk."

But Mayor Blake fired back, emphasizingtherewas no indication the wildfirewas going to turn towards the city.

"Iappreciate that you want a lot of answersand I hope you find your answers somewhere.

"But I can tell you, from the perspective that I had from that update in the morning, we had no idea that the wind was going to shift so dramatically, or bring it to our doorsteps in the manner that it did."

The city did what it could to the best of its ability, she said.

"You're not going to hear me speak ill of any living soul that put effort into leaving the community that day, or the people on the ground that stayed behind to do the fight."

The meeting stretched on for more than four hours, as residents spoke of their financial strain, their frustration over theemergency planand their angerover undamaged homes that remain off-limits.

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Arianna Johnson lives in one of the hardest-hit neighbourhoods, wherehomesthat survived the wildfire cannot be inhabited due to health and safety concerns.

Johnson, executive director of the Fort McMurray foodbank,became emotional speaking about the lack of security around her Abasand home.

"I have returned to Abasand one time. Iforced my drivers licenceinto the security guards hand. He didn't want to take it. He didn't care to check.

"How is my home secure? I need to know that if you pass this bylaw, you're going to do better than the province did by us."

With council stretched for time, many of the new bylaws under consideration, such as the controlled access bylaw that council was anxious to pass, could only be introduced. That leftthe final vote for another day.