But while real disasters rarely have a single climatic cinematic moment wherein the Rock leaps over a chasm of fire to rescue someone's grandma, they do have a lot of smaller ones:

"We took a pit stop when we were approached by a couple of women who had brought crates of water for everyone leaving. It helped quite a bit because everyone had forgot to eat and drink before we left. It almost felt like everyone was your friend that night and that everyone had your back, it was incredible."

Tristin Hopper/National Post

It was above and beyond even baseline Canadian friendliness.

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Derek saw little bits of inspiration too: "I was fighting off a flood of emotions. I didn't know if I was sad, mad, stressed.... I did have an overwhelming sense of being lost. There were people stopping each vehicle. I was a bit confused and concerned. When I pulled up a lady and three of her children came up and asked 'Do you have a place to stay?' Here she was up at midnight offering rooms and spots on their property for anyone who needed it. I was blown away."

As was Carlos. "Our [work camp's] on the end of the road. And the guy who's delivering food, he's telling us that his house is burning down. And he's still working. I don't know if I could do that. Everybody is really going out of their way to help out. I went out with a friend, she just happened to mention that she was an evacuee and her meal was covered. My dad's in his 70s, retired. He helps immigrants. He gets furniture, clothing, bedding. And the day they started evacuating, he went down and his backseat was covered in boxes of socks. It's such a minor thing, but think about wearing the same pair of socks for five days. We're immigrants, I'm a first generation Canadian. My dad helped people whose families have been in Canada for hundreds of years. It's surreal."