24/7 towing and roadside help
Towing and Tow Truck Help in Fort McMurray, Alberta
Stuck in Fort McMurray? Call 1-888-TOW-1213. We lock your price by text, send the nearest available partner tow company and check on you until help arrives.
If anyone is hurt or you're stopped in a live lane, call 911 first.
- Check-ins until help arrives
- Driver card and truck tracking
- Price locked by text
- Photo-protected tow
How it works in Fort McMurray. Sentinel Towing is a network, not a tow company. A vetted local partner in the Fort McMurray area does the job. We stay with you by text and hold them to your locked price. Not in Fort McMurray? Find a tow truck near you.
Fort McMurray tow truck help
Towing in Fort McMurray, All Along Highway 63
In Fort Mac, Highway 63 runs right through town. It's the road to the plants up north and the only highway south to Edmonton. When your car quits, tell us the nearest interchange. Here's how the road lays out from south to north.
Airport Road and Saprae Creek Trail
The south edge of town, and the turn to the airport and Saprae Creek. A car that won't start after a week in an airport lot is a classic jump start.
Beacon Hill and Gregoire
Here 63 runs as a divided expressway past Beacon Hill Drive and Gregoire Drive, then takes the name Memorial Drive.
Hospital Street and Abasand Drive
After crossing the Hangingstone River, the highway passes the Hospital Street interchange and skirts downtown to the west. Hardin Street and Morrison Street have signals, so a stall there means stopped traffic behind you. Hazards on, stay belted.
The Athabasca River bridges
Three bridges carry 63 over the Athabasca: the Athabasca River Bridge, the Ralph Steinhauer Bridge and the Grant MacEwan Bridge. There's no good place to wait on a bridge. If you can coast off it, do. If not, call right away and tell us which one.
Thickwood, Confederation Way and Parsons Creek
North of the river come the interchanges at Thickwood Boulevard, Confederation Way and the Parsons Access Road. Give us the name of the last one you passed.
North to the plants
Past town, 63 follows the Athabasca's west bank to the Suncor and Syncrude sites, then the Fort McKay Road. Pull well off the road before you call.
Heading south
The Long, Empty Stretch of Highway 63
Fort McMurray is about 435 km northeast of Edmonton. Heading south, it's nearly 180 km from the Highway 881 junction near Anzac to Wandering River, with only Mariana Lake in between. Run low on gas out there and you have few choices.
- Fill up in town. Don't count on finding fuel on that stretch. If you run dry anyway, ask for fuel delivery.
- Watch for wide loads. Oversize equipment on 63 can take up two lanes. Give those trucks room, and never pass on a hill.
- Know the other way out. Highway 881 runs from Lac La Biche to the south side of Fort McMurray, through Anzac. It's the alternate route to 63.
- Check before you go. 511 Alberta, run by the Government of Alberta, shows road conditions, incidents, road bans and over-dimensional loads. You can also dial 5-1-1 in Alberta.
When the only road out matters
In the 2016 wildfire, upwards of 88,000 people left Fort McMurray, and the twinned highway was the only route out to the south. More neighborhoods were evacuated in May 2024. In fire season, keep your tank at least half full. If an evacuation order is in effect and your car won't start, don't wait with it. Follow the order and officials' directions, and leave with someone else if you can. On an alert with no order, call us, and we'll text a family member your location if you ask.
Northern Cold and Spring Breakup
Environment Canada's 1981 to 2010 normals for the Fort McMurray airport put the average January low near minus 22 C. Lows drop below minus 30 C on about 21 days a year, and snow sits 20 cm deep or more on about 84 days. Wind chill falls below minus 30 on about 40 days.
At those temperatures a battery that was fine in October can give up in January. Plug in your block heater, keep a blanket and charger in the car, and if you slide off Confederation Way into the snow, ask for a winch-out rather than rocking the car loose.
Spring has its own risk. The region warns that flooding risk rises when ice on the Athabasca, Clearwater and Christina rivers starts to break up. In April 2020, ice jams flooded downtown streets and ruined cars. If water is rising around your car, get yourself out first. The car can wait.
Local Rules That Can Get You Towed
The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo posts temporary no-parking signs 24 hours before plowing. The restriction runs 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and cars left behind get a ticket plus towing fees. Its roads bylaw also bans parking on any bridge and leaving a car on the street for more than 48 hours without moving it. See the RMWB snow plowing page.
On the highway, Alberta law says to move to the far lane for a stopped tow truck, police car or other roadside vehicle with lights flashing. When you can't change lanes safely, drop to 60 km/h or the posted limit, whichever is lower. Read the rule at alberta.ca.
Areas We Cover Around Fort McMurray
- Downtown, Lower Townsite and Waterways
- Abasand Heights and Beacon Hill
- Gregoire and Prairie Creek
- Thickwood Heights and Wood Buffalo Estates
- Timberlea, Eagle Ridge and Stone Creek
- Dickinsfield and Parsons Creek
- Saprae Creek and the airport
- Draper
- Anzac and Gregoire Lake Estates on Highway 881
- Fort McKay, north on Highway 63
Fort McMurray Towing Questions
A tow truck drove right past me on 63. Why didn't it stop?
Under a 2025 change to Alberta's rules, a tow truck can't stop within 200 m of a disabled vehicle on a highway unless police, emergency crews or the owner or driver ask for it. So call. Once you request help through us, the partner we send can pull right up.
My car died at a camp or a plant lot north of town. Can you reach it?
Call and tell us exactly where you are. Some sites have gates and security rules. If the partner can get to you, we lock the price by text first. If site rules block a tow truck, we'll tell you that on the call.
Can you tow my car to Edmonton?
No. Edmonton is about 435 km away, and Sentinel only does local tows. We get your car to a shop in or near Fort McMurray, with the price texted first under the Stay-With-You Promise.
How will I know which truck is mine?
We text you the driver's name, photo and truck, and you can track your truck on a map. At minus 30, that means you can stay in your warm car until it pulls up.
Roadside help in Fort McMurray, AB
Tow Truck and Roadside Services in Fort McMurray
Sentinel is a 24-hour towing and roadside assistance network for Fort McMurray drivers. Tell us what happened, and we send a vetted local towing company near you with a truck suited to the job: a tow truck for a car that can't be driven (a flatbed where the vehicle needs one, like many all-wheel-drive cars), or a service truck for a jump start, lockout, flat tire, fuel delivery or winch-out.
Car towing
Cars, SUVs, minivans and light pickups. Price locked by text, photos before hookup.
Car towing
Jump starts
Clicks, dim dash lights or nothing at all? A dead battery jump, day or night.
Jump starts
Car lockouts
Keys locked inside, on the seat or in the trunk. A partner works to get you back in without damage.
Car lockouts
Flat tire changes
Got a spare but no safe way to put it on? A partner swaps it for you.
Flat tire changes
Fuel delivery
Ran out of gas? Enough fuel to get you to the nearest station.
Fuel delivery
Winch-outs
Stuck in snow, mud or a shallow ditch near the road? A partner can usually pull you out.
Winch-outsThe Sentinel Stay-With-You Promise
Seven Promises on Every Fort McMurray Call
Read the fine print on the promise page.
We stay with you. From your call until the truck arrives, we check on you by text.
See your driver before they arrive. You get their name, photo and truck by text, and you can track your truck on a map.
Your family knows too. Give us one number, and we text them your location and arrival time.
Photo-protected tow. Before hookup, your driver photographs all 4 sides of your vehicle. We text you the photos.
Price locked by text. You get your price by text before we dispatch. That price is the most you pay for the job. If the job changes, we text a new price first and you decide.
Never stranded after. Ride along in the truck when it's safe and allowed, or we help you get a ride. We also point you to a good repair shop.
Free Sentinel Circle. After your first job, your vehicle is on file. Next time, just text "TOW" for priority dispatch.
How it works
From Your Call to Your Driver
- 01You call
Our 24/7 line answers
Call 1-888-TOW-1213. Tell us where you are, what you drive and what went wrong.
- 02We lock it in
Your price, by text
We text your price before anyone is sent. That's the most you'll pay for the job you described.
- 03A partner accepts
The nearest truck takes it
The nearest available partner tow company accepts your job. They're vetted for insurance and licensing.
- 04You see who's coming
Driver card and tracking
You get your driver's name, photo and truck, plus a link to track your truck. We check in until they arrive.
Nearby cities
Fort McMurray roadside guides
Fort McMurray, AB
Stuck in Fort McMurray? Call and We'll Stay With You.
Our line answers 24/7. Your price is locked by text before we send anyone.