Carstairs Fire Chief, Jordan Schaffer observed that the tornado that touched down near Carstairs over the Canada Day long weekend is something he has never seen in terms of magnitude and scale.

Fire Chief Schaffer isn't the only one that has observed this. According to meteorologists, the tornado was classified as an EF4, a rare occurrence that hasn't been seen in Alberta since 1987.

"Initially, we got called out for a tornado North of town. I arrived on the scene on the Southwest corner and the tornado was only about a couple hundred meters big; it was moving away from me - I was three or four hundred meters away," Chief Schaffer said. "Then it started growing in size and we had reports that it was going towards [the QEII]."

According to Mountain View County officials, while the tornado touched down approximately two kilometres North of Carstairs on Saturday, July 1, many residences in the vicinity were impacted with various degrees of damage. However, the most substantial area affected was located between Range Road 22 and Range Road 12, and between Township Road 304 and Township Road 310. 

As Chief Schaffer witnessed the tornado moving, the deluge of calls began, one of which indicated that there may have been people trapped in a home that the tornado hit.

"Two of our trucks, including mine, responded and arrived on the scene to a totally devastated farm and acreage across the road. We were told that one person was trapped."

Didsbury RCMP had previously stated that both the Carstairs and Didsbury fire crews were deployed to the scene as well as RCMP. According to police, one woman was trapped in her basement as her home was destroyed above her. According to Chief Schaffer, two Carstairs firefighters, including himself and the son of the woman ran over and began assessing the scene. 

"The son did most of the work with two of my fighters; I started assisting [in] digging in the basement there, but it was agreed that I would back away and start running operations. During this time, that tornado was still heading in the eastern motion, and we were getting calls of other houses being hit. So, we started dispatching our mutual aid partners," he said.

The woman sustained only minor injuries and was assessed and released on the scene by Alberta Health Services. Though Fire Chief Schaffer is still tallying the numbers, he estimated that the fire department had eight to 10 calls that were tornado-related, while also responding to other calls, including motor vehicle collisions. However the havoc and chaos the tornado left behind is not just viewed in terms of operational details by Fire Chief Schaffer, there is also the personal toll that such natural disasters take.

"One of the families that did get impacted - their house is still standing, [but] was one of our fellow [retired] firefighters was impacted," Chief Schaffer said. "That was tough. During operations, all our members just did their job; there was no time to sit back and realize what we were getting ourselves into. Your training and experience just kick in. Then a few hours later, you can sit back and say, 'Holy what have we just done?'"

Although operations have slowed since the weekend, the fire department was also deployed on Sunday to assist mounties in dealing with traffic issues.

"During the day we had two RCMP officers, three fire apparatus, as well as two peace officers - one from the Town of Carstairs and one from Mountain View County; that was barely enough resources to keep the traffic from stopping on the road and keeping the traffic flowing."

On Sunday Didsbury RCMP issued a stark reminder to residents to avoid the area.

"RCMP can confirm that a female motorist was charged [on Sunday] with Careless Driving and Distracted Driving when she stopped in the middle of the road, parked her vehicle and proceeded to take pictures, even when she was told to move on by Police and Peace Officers," police stated.

Mounties said the actions of the motorist caused a huge traffic issue.

"As well, officers had to respond to a collision in the area as people were not paying attention to the road. First responders are far too busy in that area to deal with these issues. Please be respectful and stay away," the police release added.

Chief Schaffer added that by that point in time, fire crews were already stretched thin and fatigued and the last thing they needed was to deal with such incidents, adding that it's important to remember that residents who have been impacted need personal space to process what they have been through. However, amidst the chaos, there were stories of extraordinary solidarity of residents coming together. Hundreds of people - neighbours, friends, family, as well as complete strangers have flocked to residents impacted by the tornado and offered to assist in cleaning up.

A Facebook page that has been set up to coordinate volunteer and donations efforts, has been flooded with residents offering everything from bringing food for volunteers, to offering to bring dumpsters to sites to aid with clean up. There have also been countless posts writing about the gratitude for first responders and their tireless work.

"It's amazing to see all these people coming out. I know a lot of my members when they got off shift - the next day they put on their civilian clothes and they went right back out and helped clean up. That shows a lot of determination from our staff and all the volunteers out there."

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