FREDERICTON — Atlantic Canadians who were forced to flee their homes and jobs in Fort McMurray because of raging wildfires say they're packed and waiting for calls to say they can head west again.
Larry Coleman is in Springhill, N.S., waiting for the okay to get back to his job of building scaffolding for other trades at Syncrude.
Coleman says he has no hesitation about returning, but says a friend who works for another company will only have work every second week and no place to live during his days off.
Colton Wood, a pipefitter from Havre Boucher, N.S., says he's anxious to return to his pipefitting job for Syncrude.
He says there will be lots of work to be done to get the plants up and running again.
Melody Rooyakkers, an employee of a storage company, says she and her teenaged son Blake are eager to leave Cape Breton and to return to Fort McMurray to help the community get back on its feet.