Oklahoma Volunteers In Canada To Help Wildfire Victims

The Oklahoma standard has now gone international. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams are in Edmonton, Canada, to help tens of thousands of evacuees.

At least 80,000 people have been forced to leave their homes several hours to the north. Burning for over a week, a wildfire has consumed nearly the entire town of Fort McMurray.

So now, Oklahoma's Southern Baptist teams will help those in need. They'll provide essential home supplies, as well as setting up stations to wash clothes.

When Sam Porter heard about the devastation, he knew he had to help, because it reminded him of another disaster back home in the U.S.

'"I thought of Hurricane Katrina, that's exactly what i thought. But instead of water it was fire. But I already knew the scope of Fort Mac, and I knew these guys were going to be in trouble. And I knew it was going to be a a real crisis for the individuals and police dealing with transporting and caravaning thousands of cars," said Sam Porter, with Oklahoma Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. 

On Thursday, fire crews in Canada believe they may finally have the upper hand on the fire. But also, they compare the devastation left from the fire to an atomic bomb.