Fort McMurray-Athabasca MP Brian Jean visited the Regional Multiplex Saturday afternoon.
During his travels throughout the region he has heard some positive feedback from those affected by the wildfires in and around Slave Lake.
“The opinion of the people is that the Alberta Government has done a good job,” said Jean, pointing to the miniscule half-hour residents had to evacuate.
So far, there have been no reports of any loss of life, or even injury, as a result of the swift retreat from the fires that razed the northern-Alberta community.
A helicopter, however, did go down last Friday while fighting the fires and reports revealed that the pilot was killed during the crash.
Jean and Athabasca-Redwater MLA Jeff Johnson, who met with the MP at the multiplex, indicated that fire and rescue crews were in the process of going through the rubble in Slave Lake to ensure that no one chose to stay behind.
Jean headed to Westlock on Saturday afternoon to visit with evacuees there.
Johnson, as well as Albert Government spokesperson Nikki Booth, underlined that at this time there is no planned date to have evacuees out of the Multiplex. Johnson was resolute in his assurance that those displaced by the wildfires would not be forced or persuaded to move until proper arrangements were made on an individual basis.
“We want to utilize services for folks as long as they need them,” explained Booth. “The Red Cross has been offering people hotel vouchers in Edmonton and Grand Prairie and those vouchers are good for a week. We also have the emergency accommodation plan for those who maybe don’t have the resources or aren’t insured or meet other criteria that would pay up to 100 per cent of their accommodations up until the end of August.”
She also indicated that on Friday night there were roughly 700 people sleeping inside the Multiplex, while approximately 100 were outside in tents and RVs. That total is down from the 921 who were originally calling the location home.
“As people choose to no longer utilize this site for accommodation, we will look at what needs to happen in terms of transition or decommissioning, but at this time the site is still being used so we don’t want people to think we’re pushing them out because we’re not … it’s going to remain available.”
As for donations, much has changed, as it tends to do during times of crisis.
“We’re really trying to stress that people should be donating financial donations through the Red Cross,” emphasized Booth. “At this point in time … there is no more room to really store things. When these folks get to go home, there will be a need.”
“We’re so grateful for the response,” said Booth, who reiterated that they will require several items once the evacuees are able to return to Slave Lake.
Applications for the emergency-accommodation benefits can be found and completed at any evacuation centre or a government housing centre.
For more information on services available to those displaced by the wildfires, please visit www.alberta.ca or call 1-800-565-4483.
