Slave Lake evacuees wonder what’s left

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SLAVE LAKE, AB. (NEWS1130) – Many people evacuated from Slave Lake, Alberta have no way of knowing if their houses and belongings have been turned to piles of ash.

Much of the town is devastated with some neighbourhoods resembling the surface of the moon.

His home and two businesses are still standing, but his neighbours aren’t so lucky. Former Slave Lake mayor Gerry Allarie has been walking through the town checking on houses for people who are staying in evacuation camps.

“I’m constantly on the phone or emailing or texting people that I know. Most people are concerned initially whether they lost their house. It’s pretty heartbreaking to have to tell someone in a text message that their house is gone,” laments Allarie.

He says none of the stores in the town are open, so getting food and other necessities to emergency crews is a concern, as well. Slave Lake is without power or water. An evacuation will continue at least until the weekend.

Slave Lake’s government centre, town hall, library, radio station and dozens of homes have been destroyed. Slave Lake mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee says luckily the flames did spare some crucial buildings.

“The key thing is we’re fortunate with all the key, major infrastructure that’s still standing [like] our schools, our hospital, our RCMP office, our banks, other critical services.”

Wildfires in area still out of control

CityTV’s Sarah Offin has just returned home to Edmonton after being in Slave Lake.  “It’s something that was very difficult to digest.  It was a very surreal experience there on Monday: the twisted steel, rubble, hot ash and flare-ups.  Even while we were there, they were still trying to fight this blaze.”

Thousands of people have spent a second night in arenas and community halls in neighbouring towns like Athabasca and as far away as Edmonton 250 kilometres to the southeast.

“People are very concerned.  Right now, of course, they are wondering if their homes or businesses have survived and when they can go back.  There are not a lot of answers,” says Offin.

“It’s still a very scary situation there right now. To the east, 20 square kilometres are still burning out of control.  To the south, 150 square kilometres remain out of control.  About 1,000 firefighters are there now, about 100 helicopters and about 20 air tankers.”

Many other communities in northern Alberta are also being threatened by wildfires.  Evacuation orders are in place for Martin Lake, Loon Lake and Chisholm, where a big fire in 2001 destroyed several homes. Evacuation advisories are also in effect for a handful of smaller communities, and oil and gas companies have been forced to shut down some operations in the danger zone.

 

Alberta Fire information officer Rob Harris says they are forecasting thunderstorms and lightning. “Although the winds were still blowing, they have subsided.  That’s giving the firefighters a little bit of breathing room in allowing them to start to gain the upper hand in these firefights.”

About 7,000 people are still out of their homes and at least a third of the town has been wiped out. Alberta has created a special disaster-recovery team to help deal with the needs of the fire evacuees over the coming days, weeks and months ahead. The Red Cross has also stepped in to do what it can for those forced from their homes.

BC sends crews

On Tuesday,  the BC government announced it will double the province’s response to the wildfire situation. 

Ten 20-person unit crews, one 23-person incident management team, two helicopter coordinators, two agency representatives and two air tanker groups will be deployed Tuesday and Wednesday.

“The devastation around Slave Lake and outlying communities is a graphic reminder of what wildfires can do.  I urge British Columbians to educate themselves on how to prevent wildfires and consider their own preparedness in case of an emergency,” says Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operation.

BC had already sent 120 firefighters and 80 were sent from Ontario.

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