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Fort Mac students finish school year in Rossland

Two Fort McMurray students will finish off their school year in Rossland at the Seven Summits Centre for Learning.
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Wildfire near Highway 63 in south Fort McMurray.

Two Fort McMurray students will finish off their school year in Rossland.

Evan and Aidan Borse, in Grades 9 and 10 respectively, will finish out their school year at Seven Summits Centre for Learning after their family evacuated because of the Fort McMurray fire. The boys are staying at their grandparents’ house in Rossland with their mother, while their father continues to work as a pilot for the oil industry out of Edmonton.

The family evacuated on May 3, shortly before the evacuation order was given.

“We didn’t get the evacuation order. My mom’s friend who’s a sheriff told us to get out of town and then like 10 minutes later the evacuation order was given,” said Evan.

The family initially headed north after evacuating.

“We were basically in a lineup until we got out of the city and we went north to the camps the work camps and then we got lost and we were under a bridge, and then these guys with a gas truck came and filled the car up and we got to a camp,” explained Evan.

The day after arriving in the camps, the family headed to Edmonton to stay with the boys’ aunt and after a couple of days headed to Rossland.

This is the boys’ second week attending Seven Summits. During his first week, Evan had the opportunity to join a trip to Frenchman Coulee, where he camped out and went rock climbing. Though he’s climbed an indoor rock wall before, it was his first time climbing outdoors.

The family’s home back in Fort McMurray is still standing, though they still don’t know if it sustained any smoke damage. Evan’s school is also still there, but schools will remain closed for the rest of the year.

Evan hopes he can return to Fort McMurray sometime during the summer.