You wouldn’t expect to see a dog across the aisle on an ordinary flight. But there’s nothing ordinary about the dozens of flights carrying Fort McMurray residents to safety.
WestJet and Canadian North are among the airlines lifting evacuees out of two airports normally used by oil companies: Firebag, owned by Suncor, and Albian, owned by Shell. "There’s been nothing really usual about what’s taking place," Lauren Stewart, a WestJet spokesperson, told BuzzFeed Canada.
"People have just shown up there with whatever they could grab, pets included."
Normally dogs are put in kennels and ride in cargo, but "a lot of people just left with their dog in a car and they don’t have a cage for it," said Stewart.
Truest of generosities. Evacuees from #ymmfire with their pets on board @WestJet. U R my fav airline. #ab #yeg
Evacuees, both human and otherwise, are being flown to either Calgary or Edmonton. Stewart said WestJet will run about 70 of these flights between Thursday and Friday, though the final number will be affected by weather and safety conditions.