A great escape is underway as many Manitobans make their way out of fire-ravaged Fort McMurray.

Fleeing with her three cats, two dogs and one fish she had to put in a water bottle, Tracy Bachynski was part of a convoy that braved its way through the city.

“We had an RCMP truck in front of us and without his flashing lights on, there was places going through town that we couldn't see a thing,” said Bachynski.

Others had to be airlifted from camps, like Sharon Monro's husband Ken. At James Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg, she’s relieved as she's finally able to embrace him when he steps off the escalator.

"I'm just glad he's home, I've been waiting three days for him to get home, and I didn't feel he was safe until I could have him here," said Sharon Monro.

Ken Monro said he still has friends in a convoy and is in constant contact with them over the phone.

"It's a disaster, there's nothing left. It wasn't a forest fire, it's a city fire, you know, it's unbelievable," he said.

Twin sisters made famous by their appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show are tied to the tragedy. Fort McMurray's Sylvie Andrews and her two children are staying with her sibling in Winnipeg, not knowing if they'll ever see their house again.

"To look back and say, ‘Okay, it might be last time that this is home.’ So, it's been really surreal and really devastating," said Andrews.

While some Winnipeggers are dealing with what they left behind, others are already trying to help.

Joshua Sleigh has been back in the city for a couple of days. The journeyman scaffolder is now selling hard had stickers online for $2 to raise money for the community of Fort McMurray where he works.

"We know we're not going to raise enough money to solve the issue. That's not the point. It's about solidarity," said Sleigh.

That solidarity will be needed when people eventually return to the scene of the inferno’s aftermath to pick up the pieces.

"Whatever we do go back to, we will just go in full force and help clean up the mess of the city and make it home again," said Sylvie Andrews.