DOWNLOAD OUR APP TODAY! Android
EyEs N Optics
iPhone
“Over 60 years experience”
EYE EXAMS ON PREMISES
Brighton Box 474, Hwy 2 East • 613-475-2414
Complete propane ServiCe Residential • Commercial • Industrial • Cylinder & Bulk
• FAMILY BUSINESS • FAMILY SERVICE • FAMILY PRICES
$10 OFF YOUR NEXT SERVICE Campbellford Chrysler
& GET
BRIGHTON: 613.472.5777 TRENTON: 613.392.3040
531 Grand Rd. • 705-653-1210
NEW! 2016 XSR900 Financing starting at
1.49% OAC
www.MOTOSPORTS ofTRENTON.com 613-965-6626
BRIGHTON
Independent May 12, 2016 | 60 pages
Proudly serving Brighton, Colborne and Area
www.insidebelleville.com
Former Brighton residents among Fort McMurray evacuees By John Campbell Brighton – Former residents of Brighton and area were among the tens of thousands of people in Fort McMurray whose lives were imperilled by the enormous wildfire that forced them from the northern Alberta city last week. The evacuees included Tyler Hutchinson, the eldest son of Brighton Fire Chief Lloyd Hutchinson. “It was something else,” said the younger man who lost his condo and all his possessions May 3 before fleeing the city with his girlfriend Caylee Close and heading home, arriving in Brighton late Sunday night. With them was Lenny Dykstra, another Brighton resident, who lived with Hutchinson, Close and his brother Jeremy. Lenny Dykstra was picked up south of Fort McMurray where he had been working; Jeremy Dykstra was already home, having returned to Brighton for a vacation. Hutchinson estimates “upwards of 30 people” originally from Brighton have relocated to Fort McMurray. “We weren’t too concerned” at first when the wildfire was burning well outside the city but “all of a sudden the wind shifted” and drove the flames toward Fort McMurray, putting them in “imminent danger,” Hutchinson said. When the order came to evacuate, “there was no time” left to gather possessions. Hutchinson and Close made their way to another part of the city where a friend of his from Havelock, Bill Hay, lived and together they headed south in separate vehicles in “survival mode,” leaving Tyler Hutchinson returned home to Brighton with his girlfriend Caylee Close after they were forced to flee Fort McMurray when behind flames and smoke rising hundreds of feet a monstrous wildfire spread through the northern Alberta city, destroying their condo. Photo by John Campbell
Now you earn miles with every purchase!
2016 RAV4 LE LEASE OR FINANCE
FROM
0
%
into the sky. They saw trailers and gas stations exploding, sending flames “over top of us,” and all the while “big chunks of ash” were falling, Close said. The fire was a monster that kept doubling in size but the firefighters “did a wonderful job” combating it, risking their lives, Hutchinson said. “They knew they were going into the belly of the beast.” He compared what happened to having something “ripped from you” and “a way of life” you’ve known for 10 years being turned “upside down.” “It’s like part of your family died, it will never be the same again.” Lloyd Hutchinson said he became “very, very concerned” as his son described what was taking place as they drove through the city. His worry didn’t subside until they were out of danger “but it was pretty heart-wrenching.” He stressed “a lot of people out there [are] from this area, not just Tyler, [and] they’ve all got pretty much the same story to tell,” about the losses they’ve suffered and the impact it has had. Tyler Hutchinson and Close were overwhelmed by the support they received from strangers on their way to Brighton, with many of their expenses being looked after by those touched by their plight. The generosity has continued since arriving in Brighton. Their plans for the future are up in the air. “We’re still trying to figure out what’s going to happen in the weeks to come,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve got nothing to go back to.”
1,000
$
CUSTOMER CASH
48 Millennium Parkway, Belleville www.bellevilletoyota.ca 844-839-8159