Local businesses rebuild after wildfires

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. ― As residents and merchants slowly make their way back into the fire-ravaged city, the local Home Hardware is at the centre of rebuilding efforts. Rob and Jaylene Rice of Fort McMurray Home Hardware Building Centre have reopened with a skeletal staff and are stocking up on appliances, the Calgary Herald reports. “We have actually been sleeping in the store for the last five days,” Rob Rice told the Herald. As an “essential business,” the dealer-owners were allowed to resume operations last week, and have been serving mostly contractors fixing up other retail spaces. The store normally employs a staff of 60 but has been getting by with just nine workers since its return. The majority of the rest will return over the coming weeks, but the Rices expect about half a dozen will not be back. “They have kind of moved on,” Rob explained. “Everybody has a different situation.”