BARRHEAD - People continue to trickle into the Agrena, where the Town of Barrhead, with the help of Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS), has set up a reception centre for more than 1,300 Swan Hills residents who had to leave their homes due to a mandatory evacuation order issued May 16 due to a wildfire.
Barrhead FCSS executive director Karen Gariepy said she was given the heads up from her Swan Hills counterpart Trina Bohn on the evening of May 15 after the town issued an alert that its residents must prepare for the possibility that they may need to evacuate on short notice due to a wildfire about 24 kilometres northwest of the community.
She then put her staff on standby.
In the morning, Gariepy and her staff started preparing for the eventuality that they would have to open a reception centre.
As they made their preparations, Gariepy said they learned, again through their Swan Hills FCSS counterparts, that the municipality had started evacuating seniors and other vulnerable populations due to the poor air quality and was sending them to Barrhead via bus.
A few hours later, at about noon May 16, Bohn asked Barrhead FCSS to open a reception centre for evacuees.
“FCSS offices are very good at supporting each other with this sort of stuff,” she said, noting community branches usually take on the role of Emergency Social Services (ESS) in smaller communities. “We have the same role, have much of the same training. Even now (about 9:20 a.m. May 17) we have (Westlock and district FCSS director Tracy Proulx) asking to see how they can assist us.”
She added it makes sense that FCSS often fulfils that role because of how well-connected they are in their communities, as they know who to call when they encounter a specific need.
Gariepy added that FCSS has been working with the town and county to update its perspective emergency plans, specifically the Emergency Social Services (ESS) portion, for the better part of a year and a half.
She noted that FCSS staff had only completed their final ESS training courses about a month ago.
"Obviously we did not want to have to implement our ESS plan so soon," she said.
FCSS volunteer development coordinator Trisha Enman said that by 10 a.m. they had the reception centre open, and by 1 or 2 p.m. they started to see the first of the Swan Hills evacuees (rerouted from Whitecourt due to lack of accommodation availability) as well as a few from Valleyview following an evacuation order of that community at about 1:30 p.m. May 15.
But she said the real rush started at about 4 p.m. from the in-person registrations and people calling the two devoted telephone lines, which as of 9:30 a.m. of May 17, had only begun to input the registration from the paper forms to the online provincial portal.
Gariepy and Enman said the most common need for evacuees was places to stay, noting they had one FCSS staff member devoted to helping people find proper accommodations, whether at a local motel, campground or even an assisted seniors living facility.
"Barrhead and District Social Housing Association were able to provide 30 plus beds at Hillcrest Lodge for those with oxygen tanks," Enman said.
For those with pets, FCSS has set up an animal hotel at the Barrhead Curling Rink with the aid of Barr-North Veterinary Services and Barrhead Animal Rescue Society volunteers.
Gariepy noted that they opted to go the route of finding accommodations for people rather than set up a temporary emergency shelter because of efficiency in cost and staffing, as well as evacuee safety and comfort.
In the summer of 2021, the Town of Barrhead received a large batch of emergency supplies from the Public Health Agency of Canada, including assorted blankets, towels, hospital cots, ward boxes, and an emergency generator.
"There are many things to consider when deciding whether to open (an emergency lodging centre). It has to be staffed 24/7, and you need to consider sanitization and distancing," Gariepy said. "Not only is it often more cost-efficient, but it is safer, and the evacuees are more comfortable if they are housed in motels or personal accommodations at area campgrounds."
However, Enman noted that all the motel space in Barrhead was filled and they were routing people to Westlock.
The other challenge was feeding the people coming into the evacuation centre.
Enman said that the reception centre has been called upon to provide roughly 100 meals three times a day.
Due to public health regulations, the meals must be prepared in a commercial kitchen by people that have their food safety certification.
As a result, they are not able to accept meals from the general public, but Enman said several businesses and organizations have stepped up to sponsor meals.
Gariepy and Enman also noted how generous and responsive the community has been.
Enman noted that early in setting up the pet hotel in the curling rink, it was discovered they needed more fencing.
Half an hour later, she said, a person brought all the fences they needed and a local baseball team had been recruited to unload and install them.
Gariepy said the entire community has stepped up to help FCSS provide services to the evacuees.
Pembina West Co-op and Freson Bros have provided food and other essential products the evacuees need.
She added that local counselling services, that FCSS have worked with partnered with have offered assistance to evacuees experiencing mental and emotional distress.
"The generosity of the community has been absolutely amazing," Gariepy said.
She recounted how late, in the evening of May 16, an evacuee hadrequired diapers, but it was not something they could not get from a partner agency so an FCSS staff member went to the store to buy it.
"But when she was in the lineup, someone else picked up the tab, and these are the types of things that happen all the time," Gariepy said. "The people of Swan Hills are so appreciative of what our community is doing for them. This morning, (Trina Bohn) said that they couldn't thank the people of Barrhead enough."
And while Gariepy said the community has been so generous, she did note that sometimes good intentions can be misplaced. Although it hasn't happened, people could start bringing the aforementioned cooked meals or used clothing.
She suggested that people wanting to help should come down to the reception centre and put their names on a registry FCSS is tabulating.
“We are keeping a registry of people and what they can provide us with, because, even though we might not need their help now, as things evolve we might in the future,” Gariepy said.
Town of Barrhead communications coordinator Jennifer Pederson suggested monitoring the municipality's website, social media platforms along with Barrhead Area Regional Crime Coalition (BARCC) alerts if anything is needed that is how they would get the message out.
On Thursday, May 17, the town on behalf of FCSS through its website and BARCC, issued an urgent call for volunteers to help with duties at the reception centre as well as for milk, eggs, individually packaged yogurt, coffee, juice boxes along with assorted toiletries, such as shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, feminine hygiene products and laundry detergent pods and dryer sheets. Within a few hours the town sent another message saying that their needs had been met.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
