Brad Shearing says it was “very Canadian” that the nearly 24 hours he spent stuck on a northern Alberta highway due to a snowstorm ended with a man dropping off coffee and jerrycans of gasoline by helicopter.
“(The helicopter) landed right beside us in the rest stop,” said Shearing, a firefighter, in an interview Saturday.
“I guess he figured people probably wanted Tim Hortons. Then we started filling up coffee cups and we started passing it out to the drivers around us but traffic started moving right after.
“It was all very Canadian.”
Hundreds of vehicles stuck on Highway 63
Shearing said hundreds of other cars were stranded with him on Highway 63, the main artery that connects the northeastern Alberta city of Fort McMurray to Edmonton, after a major snowstorm and high winds hit Alberta on Thursday.
Shearing said he was stuck on the highway from Thursday to Friday afternoon, when traffic started moving again, and about 60 centimetres had accumulated.
“It was like the Sahara Desert of snow. It was surreal,” he said.
“Roads were completely gone. All you just saw was rolling snow hills everywhere.”
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta said in a Saturday statement that the towing of abandoned cars continues on Highway 63 after the significant spring snowstorm.
“Responders are checking all stranded vehicles to ensure people are safe,” the statement said.
“Heavy wreckers and tow trucks have been escorted into affected areas, and loaders and other heavy equipment are assisting in freeing vehicles from snow drifts. Abandoned vehicles are being temporarily towed.”
Food, water and buses sent to help people stranded in vehicles
It said the municipality has sent buses, food and water to the highway.
The buses will take stranded people back to Fort McMurray, which is located in the municipality, where they can arrange rides to their homes, it added.
The municipality did not respond to questions on Saturday about how many people and cars were still stranded on the road.
Shearing said he left his home in Fort Saskatchewan, about 25 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, on Thursday afternoon for work in Fort McMurray.
The snowstorm arrived soon after.
“That’s when the road started to get bad,” he said.
About 3.5 hours later and 30 kilometres south of Fort McMurray, he said he came to a stop
“I started seeing everybody in the ditch. Unfortunately, my car’s low to the ground and I don’t really take a whole lot of risks. And so, yeah, I stayed put and there was nothing I can do until help arrived to dig us out.”
Shearing said as a firefighter, he is always prepared for a crisis. He had blankets and food in his car and a full tank of gas. He passed his time watching movies.
Business owners step up to help
Overnight, he said, several business owners from Fort McMurray came out to help.
“A lot of people started making the trek out to bring us gas and food and water, to help out and try and pull people out the best they could,” he said.
“I don’t know who they were. There was a lot of people stranded that didn’t have food and water. They had kids or they had medical conditions. So being stranded there for 24 hours was a huge issue for them.”
On Friday morning, Shearing said the man waiting behind him said a friend was coming in a helicopter.
“I kind of laughed and chuckled. A few hours later, I see it actually flying. And then I was like, ‘Oh, wow, your friend wasn’t joking. He actually did bring a helicopter,'” Shearing said.
But as soon as the coffee started flowing at around 2:30 p.m., Shearing said the traffic started moving.
“Obviously, I missed work Friday, but I still managed to video conference in for the morning meeting. So I had some excitement there.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 25, 2026.