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Here we are in
slave lake, alberta.

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[cheering & applauding]

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Three hours northwest of
edmonton on the shores of

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Lesser slave lake, in the
thick of the boreal forest,

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Home to several
cree nations,

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A large métis
population.

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The town of slave lake got
its name from the lake,

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Lesser slave lake,
which got its name

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When it was at some
point mistaken

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For slave lake up
in the territories,

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Which is now called, for
clarity, great slave lake.

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But lesser slave lake is
nonetheless home to

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Slave lake and for the
people of slave lake, home.

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[laughing]

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The beautiful wilderness

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Makes it popular
with tourists.

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But in 2011, this town
was decimated...

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By a wildfire.

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Fortunately,
the entire community

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Was evacuated safely.

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So if I make jokes,
keep that in mind.

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My comedy act is a
bit like your fire.

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Nobody will get burned.

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-It's still terrible...
-[laughing]

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But no one's
getting burned.

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[laughing]

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When you grow up is a small
town in newfoundland,

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You see the people have
a sense of humour

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About hard times.

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Check, check.

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I turned that into a career
and hit the road.

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[mc] mr. Jonny harris!

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Now I'm on a mission to
find the funny in

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The places you'd
least expect it,

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Canada's struggling
small towns.

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Towns that are
against the ropes,

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But hanging in there...

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Still laughing in the
face of adversity.

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This is slave lake,
alberta.

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♪

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♪

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♪

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Everyone across the country
is getting a whiff of it now,

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But here in slave lake,

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People are used
to forest fires.

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Every spring, part of
the boreal forest

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In this region
will burn.

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You know, most kids
across canada,

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A couple of times years,
they'll get a snow day.

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Here, it's common for
kids to get a fire day.

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[laughing]

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Now, it's not as
fun as a snow day.

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On a fire day, you don't
go out and build ash forts.

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[laughing]

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You don't go try to catch
embers on your tongue.

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[laughing]

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I spoke to a woman who
worked the phones at

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The command centre
after the fire.

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When people were
burned out, she went all-in.

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She's a little métis,
a little bit cree,

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And there's no greater
lesser slave lake'r

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Than she,
chana trudel.

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[cheering & applauding]

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Chana explained to me that
wildfires in the area

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Are a fact of life,
a common occurrence.

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Growing up, there wasn't ever
really a fire that really

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Threatened the town
that I'm aware of.

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Right.

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Like, to the point where
10 minutes out of town

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There was a big fire,
my family, they're like,

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"let's go look at it,"
and we stood on

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The edge of the fire,
and I'm like,

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This probably
isn't safe,

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A little 10-year-old,
but okay,

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This is just a part of life.

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It's like there's a
certain lack of fear.

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Like here, with fire,

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Your first instinct isn't-
put it out- it's...

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Check it out.

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[laughing]

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Well, I guess it's
good for kids to-

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It's educational for kids.
Like in most towns,

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You bring kids to see
the fireworks.

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Here, you bring kids
to see how fire works.

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[laughing]

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So, I could see how,
you know,

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The fire of 2011 probably
didn't seem much different.

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People weren't
overly worried.

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The town, you know, is
very good at responding,

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And saying like,
"don't worry,

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We'd have like a
day's notice if an

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Evacuation warning
to like pack a bag,

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Or you'll have at the very
least four hours' notice."

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Chana said when she
saw warning signs,

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Her family figured that
she was overreacting.

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My father used
to be an emt.

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So he was like, "no, you're,
you're overthinking it.

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Don't even have
to pack bags.

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You know what,
if there's an emergency,

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Then they'll put us
on four-hour watch."

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That evening, the power went
out and we were like, "oh!"

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And then, the radio-
they had batteries for

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The radio, but the
broadcast stopped.

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And she was like, "okay,
guys, we really got to-"

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"no, you,
you're overreacting.

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You worry too much."
and then she said...

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The smoke went from like a
grey to black in the smoke.

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That means, like,
manmade structures,

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Shingles are burning.

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Even then,
her family was like,

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"oh, black smoke,
you know, maybe,

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Maybe they just haven't
picked a pope yet."

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[laughing]

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Lo and behold, the radio
station had actually burnt.

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Oh, my god.

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So that's like
right next to town.

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My father, he was like,
"okay, this is serious now."

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The wind had switched so fast
that it ripped through town.

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We didn't have even
a one-hour notice.

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Now you've got like
6,500 people

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All evacuating at once.

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They couldn't get out.

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And the fire- the wind was so
high- it was out of control.

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It was just
spreading like...

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[audience]
wildfire.

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[laughing]

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That's where that
comes from, okay, okay.

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[laughing]

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All three highways out of
town were blocked by fire.

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She said it was
scary, you know,

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They were wondering if
there was going to be

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Some sort of air
evacuation attempted.

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Or, barring that,
if traffic wasn't moving,

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Would you just
have to run?

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You know, would you just
have to run and not stop run-

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Run like you're
boreal forest gump?

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[laughing]

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One place without any
trees to burn was

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The massive walmart
parking lot.

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And that's where everybody
sort of convened.

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The whole town
was essentially

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Parked in this area.

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Refuge from a
once-in-a-lifetime fire,

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You really can find
anything at walmart.

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[laughing]

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So, they had dropped like a
whole bunch of water bombers,

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Fire retardant all
across the road,

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And they finally
cleared it enough.

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In the nick of time, a plane
came in- a water bomber-

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And it hit the highway,
and finally,

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Traffic started
picking up pace.

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I think only in
slave lake, right?

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"like, oh my god,
are we stuck here?"

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"no, we should be alright,
they just bombed the highway."

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[laughing]

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♪

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The fire destroyed
over 40% of slave lake.

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A couple of weeks after,

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People started to
come back home-

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People who were lucky
enough to still have a home.

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Chana told me that volunteer
crews sprung into action.

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And they were giving
people cleanup kits,

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Which included gloves
and rolls of tape,

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So you could get
rid of your fridge.

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First thing you're gonna do,
is you're gonna go to

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Your fridge and duct tape
everything closed.

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Do not open it at all.

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Molds could have
grown over that time.

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The fridges at this point,

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They were a bit like me
at new year's-

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They haven't worked
in two weeks,

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And the insides
are a biohazard.

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[laughing]

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Chana said she and
other volunteers

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Worked relentlessly at
the command centre.

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They're on the phones
talking to people, ah, ah...

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Who had lost their homes,

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Trying to find them
somewhere to stay.

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She was actually given
a medal of honour

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For her efforts.
I think that's pretty good,

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And it comes with
a certificate.

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-[applauding]
-yeah.

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You could put that on
your resume and

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Stick the certificate
on your new fridge.

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[laughing]

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[applauding]

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♪

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♪

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Though beautiful
on the outside,

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Slave lake has had its
share of infernal struggles.

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00:07:06,726 --> 00:07:07,893
Hey, joanne,
how are you?

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Doing well.

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I talked with one of slave
lake's longest-serving

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Volunteer firefighters,
joanne hunter.

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[cheering & applauding]

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Joanne told me that
the boreal forest

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Is built to burn.

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Fire is an everyday part of
what happens in

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The boreal forest
for regeneration.

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Pine cones need heat
in order to

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Pop and create new trees.

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She said pine cones actually
need fire and its heat

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To spread their seed.

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Oof, it's getting
hot in here, huh.

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No, but I know a thing
or two about how you

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Know reproductive things
can cause burning.

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00:07:46,066 --> 00:07:48,766
[laughing]

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And no amount of
water in the world is-

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You need a topical
cream like an-

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Anyway,
it's not important.

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To prevent these fires,

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What you really need
is education.

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If you're being hugged
by the boreal forest,

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00:08:00,681 --> 00:08:02,514
So if you've got trees
immediately

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00:08:02,649 --> 00:08:04,516
Right around
your, your home,

216
00:08:04,518 --> 00:08:06,918
You might want to consider
cutting some of that back.

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00:08:06,954 --> 00:08:08,553
If you're 100 feet away,
and you've got a

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Tin roof and you've
got stucco, you know,

219
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You're much better
prepared than someone who

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00:08:13,794 --> 00:08:17,662
Might be right in the middle
of the boreal forest and

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00:08:17,698 --> 00:08:21,132
Have a wood shake roof
and, you know,

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A pile of wood
alongside their home.

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00:08:23,604 --> 00:08:27,405
Maybe don't stack dry
firewood next to your house.

224
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Try and sprinkler your
grass in the spring

225
00:08:30,010 --> 00:08:31,810
So that it gets
nice and green.

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00:08:31,812 --> 00:08:33,745
Dead grass, that's a
big one, apparently.

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00:08:33,814 --> 00:08:36,948
Like, if it's yellow, don't
let it mellow, water it.

228
00:08:37,083 --> 00:08:38,917
[laughing]

229
00:08:39,052 --> 00:08:42,086
It really is about fire
from the forest

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00:08:42,155 --> 00:08:44,556
Meeting up with an
urban environment.

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00:08:44,691 --> 00:08:48,426
From that, over the years,
the fire department has

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00:08:48,495 --> 00:08:51,162
Become very involved in
wildland urban interface.

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She told me about
"wooey" training, w-u-I.

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00:08:56,036 --> 00:08:59,971
This is wildland urban
interface training.

235
00:09:00,007 --> 00:09:01,973
And basically, this is
training for firefighters to

236
00:09:01,975 --> 00:09:04,442
Combat fires that
are moving from

237
00:09:04,511 --> 00:09:07,178
The forest into
communities.

238
00:09:07,180 --> 00:09:10,715
It's about those two worlds
colliding to try and

239
00:09:10,717 --> 00:09:12,717
Provide structure
protection, so that

240
00:09:12,852 --> 00:09:14,085
We don't have
happen again

241
00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:16,520
What happened
to us in 2011.

242
00:09:16,557 --> 00:09:21,693
[sirens]

243
00:09:21,828 --> 00:09:25,730
♪

244
00:09:25,732 --> 00:09:30,167
Joanne gave me a little
crash course on wui training.

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00:09:30,203 --> 00:09:31,836
She taught me a
few techniques.

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Spray back and forth.

247
00:09:33,774 --> 00:09:35,840
Sweep, sweep...

248
00:09:35,842 --> 00:09:38,009
Sweep.

249
00:09:38,011 --> 00:09:40,412
And then you get up,
you take a few paces in,

250
00:09:40,547 --> 00:09:42,146
And then you can
adjust the streams.

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00:09:42,215 --> 00:09:43,682
Take the tip wide,
and we're gonna

252
00:09:43,684 --> 00:09:45,550
Go in through that
window a bit.

253
00:09:45,619 --> 00:09:47,251
Go in safe, yep.

254
00:09:47,253 --> 00:09:49,153
♪

255
00:09:49,189 --> 00:09:51,723
Then you could change it
to like a really fine jet.

256
00:09:51,858 --> 00:09:54,325
And kind of dig it
around a little bit.

257
00:09:57,598 --> 00:09:59,764
The nozzle does the
whole thing, you know.

258
00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:01,165
And I think if I gave
it one more click,

259
00:10:01,201 --> 00:10:02,634
It might have done
the like, "bah-bah,"

260
00:10:02,769 --> 00:10:04,835
Like the massage setting.
The, "doo-doo-doo-doo".

261
00:10:04,871 --> 00:10:06,237
[laughing]

262
00:10:06,239 --> 00:10:07,672
♪

263
00:10:07,741 --> 00:10:09,974
Perfect.

264
00:10:10,109 --> 00:10:12,677
Same principles
as before.

265
00:10:12,813 --> 00:10:13,979
Yep, that's it.

266
00:10:14,114 --> 00:10:16,047
Mitch is over at the fire truck,
and we look over,

267
00:10:16,182 --> 00:10:17,749
And he's doing this-

268
00:10:17,751 --> 00:10:20,585
Joanne, she explained to
me after, basically, mitch,

269
00:10:20,587 --> 00:10:23,388
He's watching how much
water's left in the truck.

270
00:10:23,523 --> 00:10:25,189
And, he's using
his body like a,

271
00:10:25,225 --> 00:10:26,991
Like a gauge of how
much water's left.

272
00:10:27,060 --> 00:10:28,726
So, this means
there's 3/4 left.

273
00:10:28,762 --> 00:10:30,662
I felt kind of dumb
then because like,

274
00:10:30,664 --> 00:10:32,831
Before I had started
with the hose,

275
00:10:32,966 --> 00:10:35,032
He had looked over us
and he had done this.

276
00:10:35,068 --> 00:10:37,001
And I looked back- I thought
we were having a moment.

277
00:10:37,070 --> 00:10:38,737
I looked back at him,
and I was like...

278
00:10:38,739 --> 00:10:41,506
-[laughing]
-woo!

279
00:10:41,508 --> 00:10:42,706
[applauding]

280
00:10:42,708 --> 00:10:44,542
-Right on!
-Awesome!

281
00:10:49,149 --> 00:10:53,685
♪

282
00:10:53,820 --> 00:10:55,286
Another thing I learned
here at slave lake,

283
00:10:55,288 --> 00:10:58,690
You can change someone's
day with a pizza.

284
00:10:58,825 --> 00:11:00,257
That might sound cheesy,

285
00:11:00,293 --> 00:11:02,661
But I went over to the
mecca of mozza

286
00:11:02,796 --> 00:11:06,464
Known as alimo's, and I spoke
to ali and moe mouallem.

287
00:11:06,533 --> 00:11:10,768
[cheering & applauding]

288
00:11:10,804 --> 00:11:13,571
The mouallem's have
deep roots in this town.

289
00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:14,906
They've run several
restaurants.

290
00:11:14,975 --> 00:11:17,575
These guys, they told me
a great story.

291
00:11:17,611 --> 00:11:19,577
We have a great relationship
with our fire department.

292
00:11:19,646 --> 00:11:21,846
They had, I think
a safety meeting.

293
00:11:21,981 --> 00:11:24,148
So, they tasked one of
their new employees

294
00:11:24,184 --> 00:11:26,651
Who had moved to
slave lake from ontario.

295
00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:28,119
They said,
"call alimo's,

296
00:11:28,254 --> 00:11:29,854
Order 18 pizzas
for the meeting."

297
00:11:29,989 --> 00:11:32,857
So, this guy does a
quick search online,

298
00:11:32,992 --> 00:11:37,529
Gets on the phone and orders
18 large pizzas from

299
00:11:37,664 --> 00:11:40,131
Alamos pizza and wings

300
00:11:40,167 --> 00:11:42,633
In san antonio, texas.

301
00:11:42,669 --> 00:11:44,536
[laughing]

302
00:11:44,538 --> 00:11:45,636
And by the time they
realized the mistake,

303
00:11:45,672 --> 00:11:47,005
The pizzas were
already made.

304
00:11:47,007 --> 00:11:49,541
So, the fire department
here paid for them.

305
00:11:49,676 --> 00:11:51,208
And then they donated
those pizzas to the

306
00:11:51,244 --> 00:11:53,711
Emergency services to the
fire and to the police

307
00:11:53,747 --> 00:11:55,613
In the san antonio area.

308
00:11:55,682 --> 00:11:57,215
And those guys,
they loved it,

309
00:11:57,217 --> 00:11:59,017
And they took pictures
and they were posting it

310
00:11:59,019 --> 00:12:00,418
On social media
and, and,

311
00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:02,554
And thanking the
fire department here.

312
00:12:02,556 --> 00:12:05,823
And then, ali and moe
decided they would donate

313
00:12:05,859 --> 00:12:09,160
Some pizzas to the
local hospital.

314
00:12:09,162 --> 00:12:11,962
And they posted about that,
and put in the hashtag

315
00:12:11,998 --> 00:12:13,765
"random acts of pizza".

316
00:12:13,767 --> 00:12:17,102
Well, before you know it,
this is trending on twitter.

317
00:12:17,237 --> 00:12:19,570
And the story
goes viral.

318
00:12:19,606 --> 00:12:21,672
We're getting calls
from every major

319
00:12:21,708 --> 00:12:23,841
News network publication,

320
00:12:23,910 --> 00:12:25,443
People wanting to do,
you know,

321
00:12:25,578 --> 00:12:28,980
Like longform newspaper
articles on it and stuff.

322
00:12:29,115 --> 00:12:30,882
People literally would
come to my house,

323
00:12:31,017 --> 00:12:32,584
See me coming
out of my truck,

324
00:12:32,586 --> 00:12:34,852
And pull up beside me and
give me 100 bucks

325
00:12:34,888 --> 00:12:36,821
And say, "hey, donate it
to your cause."

326
00:12:36,956 --> 00:12:39,790
So we had like pizzas
going out to people who,

327
00:12:39,792 --> 00:12:41,058
Who needed
pizza that day.

328
00:12:41,128 --> 00:12:43,461
You know, the people in
this community kind of...

329
00:12:43,596 --> 00:12:45,129
You know made that
happen for them.

330
00:12:45,198 --> 00:12:46,998
All this came about
because one guy

331
00:12:47,133 --> 00:12:49,868
Called the wrong
pizza place.

332
00:12:50,003 --> 00:12:51,202
And really,
if you think about,

333
00:12:51,238 --> 00:12:53,003
It's an understandable
mistake.

334
00:12:53,039 --> 00:12:55,006
When you look at the names
alimo's and alamos

335
00:12:55,075 --> 00:12:56,674
Are "alamost" the same.

336
00:12:56,810 --> 00:12:59,878
[laughing]

337
00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:02,881
♪

338
00:13:03,016 --> 00:13:07,352
♪

339
00:13:07,487 --> 00:13:09,787
I then met a guy who
taught me that

340
00:13:09,823 --> 00:13:11,623
Around lesser slave lake,

341
00:13:11,625 --> 00:13:14,692
Traditional cree dancing
is no passing fancy,

342
00:13:14,828 --> 00:13:16,494
But fancy none the lesser.

343
00:13:16,629 --> 00:13:19,497
The moves are big,
less isn't more.

344
00:13:19,499 --> 00:13:22,033
Stan is the man-
stan isidore.

345
00:13:22,102 --> 00:13:26,404
[cheering & applauding]

346
00:13:26,473 --> 00:13:27,672
How did you get
into it, as a kid?

347
00:13:27,807 --> 00:13:29,474
I owe it all to my aunties.

348
00:13:29,609 --> 00:13:31,509
I owe it all to my mom,
they brought it to me.

349
00:13:31,578 --> 00:13:33,778
They introduced it to me,
they got me into it.

350
00:13:33,780 --> 00:13:36,948
They taught me the
importance of, of the dance.

351
00:13:37,083 --> 00:13:40,718
Stan was explaining to
me the power of dance.

352
00:13:40,787 --> 00:13:44,522
He said it's about energy,
and it's about healing.

353
00:13:44,591 --> 00:13:48,393
Every dance that we have,
as first nations people,

354
00:13:48,528 --> 00:13:51,930
All have that same intent,
if you will.

355
00:13:51,932 --> 00:13:54,765
It's to, it's to heal,
to heal ourselves

356
00:13:54,801 --> 00:13:56,467
And to heal other people.

357
00:13:56,503 --> 00:13:59,937
He said, you know,
"dancing is medicine."

358
00:14:00,006 --> 00:14:01,606
And I was like, "well,
okay, but you know,

359
00:14:01,675 --> 00:14:03,741
A lot of people say laughter
is the best medicine."

360
00:14:03,810 --> 00:14:06,044
Now, it's not a competition,
it's not a competition.

361
00:14:06,046 --> 00:14:07,144
[laughing]

362
00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:09,580
The dance that, that I do,
that I specialize in,

363
00:14:09,649 --> 00:14:12,082
The dance that I've done my
whole life, is called fancy.

364
00:14:12,118 --> 00:14:17,021
♪ [indigenous singing
& drumming] ♪

365
00:14:17,023 --> 00:14:22,093
♪

366
00:14:22,162 --> 00:14:25,096
The fancy dance is very
flashy, it's energetic.

367
00:14:25,165 --> 00:14:26,631
It's big moves.

368
00:14:26,766 --> 00:14:30,902
And you have to keep up
with the beat of the drum.

369
00:14:30,904 --> 00:14:32,570
That beat is fast.

370
00:14:32,639 --> 00:14:34,572
It's almost like a
machine gun, and you got-

371
00:14:34,707 --> 00:14:36,974
Your feet and your legs
have to keep up with that.

372
00:14:37,043 --> 00:14:39,844
The dancers, they're
putting out all this energy,

373
00:14:39,846 --> 00:14:41,713
And then the drummers
were also singing.

374
00:14:41,715 --> 00:14:42,846
It's almost like
a competition.

375
00:14:42,883 --> 00:14:45,984
If that drum is
going too fast...

376
00:14:45,986 --> 00:14:48,786
And I can't keep up, then
that's one for the drum.

377
00:14:48,855 --> 00:14:50,054
Right.
[laughing]

378
00:14:50,090 --> 00:14:50,989
Right, that's how I see it.

379
00:14:51,124 --> 00:14:52,657
The drum stops
and I keep going,

380
00:14:52,726 --> 00:14:54,659
I didn't know it stopped,
that's the one for the drum.

381
00:14:54,661 --> 00:14:58,129
If the drum keeps going,
and I stop, then same thing.

382
00:14:58,131 --> 00:15:01,532
He said sometimes, the
drummers who are also singing,

383
00:15:01,534 --> 00:15:03,101
They'll change up a
song a little bit,

384
00:15:03,236 --> 00:15:04,868
Or change up the
rhythm to try to

385
00:15:04,905 --> 00:15:06,704
Trick the dancers off their-

386
00:15:06,773 --> 00:15:08,940
It's a little drum trap,
almost.

387
00:15:09,075 --> 00:15:10,541
A snare, if you will.

388
00:15:10,610 --> 00:15:12,643
[laughing]

389
00:15:12,712 --> 00:15:14,511
And he said, if they
manage to do that and

390
00:15:14,547 --> 00:15:15,847
The dancer loses
his rhythm, he said

391
00:15:15,982 --> 00:15:17,548
They call that
getting bucked off.

392
00:15:17,584 --> 00:15:19,083
[laughing]

393
00:15:19,218 --> 00:15:21,219
"bucked," I said.

394
00:15:21,221 --> 00:15:22,620
[laughing]

395
00:15:22,755 --> 00:15:24,789
The amount of energy
he was putting in-

396
00:15:24,791 --> 00:15:27,492
And this was like, it was
a hot summer day.

397
00:15:27,627 --> 00:15:30,694
Like, it was scorching, like
if I had even tried that,

398
00:15:30,730 --> 00:15:32,162
I would have
dropped dead.

399
00:15:32,198 --> 00:15:34,699
And on the news,
they would have said,

400
00:15:34,768 --> 00:15:36,900
"jonny harris died
as he lived...

401
00:15:36,937 --> 00:15:38,102
Trying to be fancy."

402
00:15:38,104 --> 00:15:40,571
[laughing]

403
00:15:40,573 --> 00:15:42,573
You credit your mom and
your aunts for teaching you.

404
00:15:42,642 --> 00:15:43,774
But you were obviously
quite good at it,

405
00:15:43,776 --> 00:15:47,045
You were chosen at quite
a young age to do a tour.

406
00:15:47,180 --> 00:15:50,114
My very first tour,
overseas...

407
00:15:50,116 --> 00:15:52,050
I was 13 years old.

408
00:15:52,052 --> 00:15:54,252
He was one of about 15
dancers that were picked from

409
00:15:54,254 --> 00:15:57,722
Nations across north
america to go to europe.

410
00:15:57,724 --> 00:15:59,890
During the trip,
we ended up in England.

411
00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:02,060
When they were in England,
the head of the, the...

412
00:16:02,195 --> 00:16:05,529
The dance troupe came,
and picked stan,

413
00:16:05,598 --> 00:16:09,000
And like only like two other
guys for this important gig.

414
00:16:09,135 --> 00:16:11,135
They take us down
a few hallways,

415
00:16:11,137 --> 00:16:14,339
And we go into this
huge, huge room.

416
00:16:14,474 --> 00:16:16,007
At the end of the hall,
there's all these people

417
00:16:16,009 --> 00:16:17,708
And just sitting in the
middle of them...

418
00:16:17,777 --> 00:16:19,544
-Was the queen.
-Oh, my god.

419
00:16:19,679 --> 00:16:20,678
Oh, my god.
[laughing]

420
00:16:20,813 --> 00:16:21,946
At the time,
I didn't even know

421
00:16:21,948 --> 00:16:23,447
I was dancing
for the queen.

422
00:16:23,483 --> 00:16:24,915
-Is that right?
-I was just told...

423
00:16:24,951 --> 00:16:26,684
"dance your
little butt off."

424
00:16:26,819 --> 00:16:29,887
He said he was told to
dance his butt off...

425
00:16:29,956 --> 00:16:31,422
Not by her.

426
00:16:31,458 --> 00:16:33,524
[laughing]

427
00:16:33,659 --> 00:16:36,160
Can you imagine being asked
to dance for the queen?

428
00:16:36,162 --> 00:16:38,095
At the age of 13,
I was hoping to

429
00:16:38,131 --> 00:16:40,698
Just get asked to
dance at a dance.

430
00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:42,767
[laughing]

431
00:16:42,902 --> 00:16:44,969
I'd get in trouble
at the school dances.

432
00:16:44,971 --> 00:16:47,171
Teachers would be like,
"jonny harris,

433
00:16:47,173 --> 00:16:50,041
You get those hands above
the waist, young man...

434
00:16:50,043 --> 00:16:52,777
And for god's sake
find a dance partner."

435
00:16:52,846 --> 00:16:55,246
[laughing]

436
00:16:55,248 --> 00:16:58,082
[applauding]

437
00:17:02,122 --> 00:17:03,187
♪

438
00:17:03,223 --> 00:17:05,156
I was lucky enough that
my visit here was during

439
00:17:05,225 --> 00:17:08,826
Riverboat days, slave lake's
annual summer festival.

440
00:17:08,895 --> 00:17:11,996
This year the main event
was a no-holds-barred

441
00:17:11,998 --> 00:17:13,397
Wrestling show.

442
00:17:13,466 --> 00:17:16,467
I didn't want to tussle
with no slave lake muscle.

443
00:17:16,503 --> 00:17:19,403
But I got into it
with derri deschover.

444
00:17:19,472 --> 00:17:23,707
You probably know him as
local legend, tarzan hayes.

445
00:17:23,743 --> 00:17:28,412
[cheering & applauding]

446
00:17:28,481 --> 00:17:31,181
Derri said he was a huge
wrestling fan as a kid.

447
00:17:31,217 --> 00:17:33,050
You probably remember
back in '97, like...

448
00:17:33,086 --> 00:17:34,218
-Yeah.
-How huge it was.

449
00:17:34,353 --> 00:17:35,286
That's when I
was just a kid,

450
00:17:35,421 --> 00:17:37,488
And that kind of died down
for everybody, ha.

451
00:17:37,524 --> 00:17:39,090
But I kept
watching it.

452
00:17:39,225 --> 00:17:40,758
And then he said
about a year ago,

453
00:17:40,893 --> 00:17:43,828
There was a big wwe
event in edmonton.

454
00:17:43,830 --> 00:17:45,897
And he decided to
spend some money on it,

455
00:17:46,032 --> 00:17:47,832
And he bought himself
front-row tickets.

456
00:17:47,967 --> 00:17:49,967
He's lifting weights
at this point and...

457
00:17:50,036 --> 00:17:51,435
Pretty big.

458
00:17:51,437 --> 00:17:52,102
And the guys were
like coming like

459
00:17:52,138 --> 00:17:53,438
From me to you
away, right?

460
00:17:53,573 --> 00:17:55,106
-Yeah.
-Like, walking out, and...

461
00:17:55,241 --> 00:17:57,275
I was kind of just like
looking at 'em, and like,

462
00:17:57,277 --> 00:17:59,977
Hm, I'm as big as
these guys, and...

463
00:18:00,013 --> 00:18:02,246
Like I- some of the moves
they do, I can do that.

464
00:18:02,248 --> 00:18:03,915
People here can
probably relate to that.

465
00:18:04,050 --> 00:18:05,183
I'm sure there's people
right now

466
00:18:05,318 --> 00:18:07,185
Sitting in the front row,
going like,

467
00:18:07,187 --> 00:18:08,819
"oh my god,
this guy's okay.

468
00:18:08,855 --> 00:18:10,254
But like, you know."

469
00:18:10,389 --> 00:18:12,090
[laughing]

470
00:18:12,225 --> 00:18:13,090
And before you know it,
he's at a

471
00:18:13,159 --> 00:18:16,094
Wrestling training
school in edmonton.

472
00:18:16,229 --> 00:18:19,130
I had trained, I don't know,
maybe three weeks,

473
00:18:19,265 --> 00:18:21,331
And the guy that owns
the promotion, he said,

474
00:18:21,367 --> 00:18:22,934
"yeah, we're doing a...

475
00:18:22,936 --> 00:18:24,936
A royal rumble
type of match."

476
00:18:24,938 --> 00:18:26,904
The royal rumble
starts with like

477
00:18:26,940 --> 00:18:28,739
20 wrestlers in the ring.

478
00:18:28,808 --> 00:18:30,108
And then they
get eliminated

479
00:18:30,243 --> 00:18:32,543
As they get thrown out
one at a time,

480
00:18:32,545 --> 00:18:34,211
A bit like a bar
fight in red deer.

481
00:18:34,347 --> 00:18:36,414
[laughing]

482
00:18:36,416 --> 00:18:38,248
Derri's at the event,
and he said...

483
00:18:38,284 --> 00:18:40,151
-I was pretty nervous, man.
-Yeah.

484
00:18:40,286 --> 00:18:41,986
At that point,
I was like, wow,

485
00:18:42,055 --> 00:18:43,688
What did I get
myself into?

486
00:18:43,823 --> 00:18:45,823
I'm walking around
dressed like tarzan.

487
00:18:45,825 --> 00:18:48,159
Like, holy man,
I feel like an idiot.

488
00:18:48,228 --> 00:18:52,897
He said his wife was in the
audience with her parents.

489
00:18:52,899 --> 00:18:55,133
And his brain just
started going...

490
00:18:55,268 --> 00:18:57,101
Oh, I'm getting- like,
my heart's beating

491
00:18:57,103 --> 00:18:58,302
Thinking about it
right now.

492
00:18:58,437 --> 00:18:59,303
Yeah.

493
00:18:59,305 --> 00:19:00,304
Like, imagine
you're in the ring,

494
00:19:00,439 --> 00:19:03,908
Getting your butt kicked,
and you hear a woman go,

495
00:19:03,910 --> 00:19:05,476
"you could do better."

496
00:19:05,478 --> 00:19:07,211
[laughing]

497
00:19:07,347 --> 00:19:08,712
And you realize it's
your mother-in-law

498
00:19:08,781 --> 00:19:10,314
Talking to your wife.

499
00:19:10,449 --> 00:19:12,183
[laughing]

500
00:19:12,318 --> 00:19:13,918
[mc] are we ready?!

501
00:19:13,987 --> 00:19:16,988
[cheering]

502
00:19:17,123 --> 00:19:18,856
Kids love this guy.

503
00:19:18,925 --> 00:19:20,390
They're all cheering
for him,

504
00:19:20,526 --> 00:19:22,126
And trying to
high five with him.

505
00:19:22,195 --> 00:19:23,928
It's, it's very
heartwarming.

506
00:19:24,063 --> 00:19:27,765
[cheering] oh!

507
00:19:27,900 --> 00:19:30,301
Derri said the real
challenge though, for him,

508
00:19:30,370 --> 00:19:32,836
It's the character side of
getting the mic and

509
00:19:32,872 --> 00:19:34,471
Doing all the smack talk.

510
00:19:34,507 --> 00:19:37,742
-3!
-[cheering]

511
00:19:37,877 --> 00:19:39,944
I think that derri should
come up with the tarzan yell,

512
00:19:39,946 --> 00:19:42,880
But make it a little bit
more canadian. Right?

513
00:19:42,949 --> 00:19:45,983
Do like a, "eh,
yeh-eh, yeh-eh...!"

514
00:19:46,052 --> 00:19:48,452
[laughing]

515
00:19:48,488 --> 00:19:54,292
♪

516
00:19:54,294 --> 00:19:56,360
Ancient lakes and trees.

517
00:19:56,362 --> 00:19:58,262
Ancient dances of the cree.

518
00:19:58,398 --> 00:20:01,765
More recently, hashtag
random acts of pizza.

519
00:20:01,801 --> 00:20:05,236
And guys with big muscles who
you wouldn't want to tussle,

520
00:20:05,238 --> 00:20:08,171
But are actually quite
pleased to meet ya.

521
00:20:08,208 --> 00:20:11,709
Sucker punched by fire,
40% or higher

522
00:20:11,844 --> 00:20:14,444
Of slave lake was
burned to the ground.

523
00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:16,380
People worried at the start

524
00:20:16,515 --> 00:20:18,249
About the beating
of its heart.

525
00:20:18,384 --> 00:20:21,952
Was it doomed then to
never again make a sound?

526
00:20:21,988 --> 00:20:24,055
But like the flickering
flame that catches,

527
00:20:24,190 --> 00:20:26,390
That heartbeat rose
from the ashes,

528
00:20:26,392 --> 00:20:29,192
And people returned
as they heard it.

529
00:20:29,229 --> 00:20:32,263
And it beats to this day,
in the town of slave lake,

530
00:20:32,332 --> 00:20:34,865
The phoenix of
northern alberta.

531
00:20:34,867 --> 00:20:36,767
Thanks for coming out
everybody, you've been great.

532
00:20:36,836 --> 00:20:39,337
[cheering & applauding]

533
00:20:39,339 --> 00:20:41,138
It was amazing,
it was really fun.

534
00:20:41,207 --> 00:20:43,807
♪

535
00:20:43,843 --> 00:20:45,243
It was great!

536
00:20:45,378 --> 00:20:49,246
♪

537
00:20:49,249 --> 00:20:52,483
♪

538
00:20:52,552 --> 00:20:54,051
Jonny was such a
great firefighter,

539
00:20:54,120 --> 00:20:56,287
I almost gave him the
locker next to mine.

540
00:20:56,356 --> 00:21:00,925
♪

541
00:21:00,927 --> 00:21:03,994
♪

542
00:21:04,030 --> 00:21:05,696
Definitely I'd do a
powerbomb on him.

543
00:21:05,765 --> 00:21:08,365
Choke slam. Yeah,
anything else I can think of,

544
00:21:08,401 --> 00:21:09,733
I would try on him.
He's pretty little,

545
00:21:09,769 --> 00:21:11,501
It'd be easy to work with.

546
00:21:11,537 --> 00:21:13,904
♪

547
00:21:13,906 --> 00:21:16,907
I just loved the way that
he put everything together.

548
00:21:16,976 --> 00:21:19,243
He definitely has a
recipe for success.

549
00:21:19,245 --> 00:21:22,146
♪

550
00:21:22,215 --> 00:21:24,081
♪