Fleeing the flames in Slave Lake

The Athabasca Multiplex houses hundreds of families forced from their homes in and around Slave Lake, Alberta when wildfires swept through the region. Inside the shelter there are rows of cots, food tables, crisis counsellors and first aid stations. Services such as a bank, pharmacy, several government departments and insurance companies, a playroom, pet centre and the Canadian Red Cross are set up and available to support families.

The Kanzig family is one of thousands who fled the town of Slave Lake on Sunday, May 15th.

“I didn’t sleep at all that night,” said Karri Kanzig, recalling the night before her family evacuated the town. “There were strong winds and I kept getting up to look out the window.”

By the next afternoon the smoke began to slowly increase and by the evening, unable to see through the thick, grey mass to the school just yards away from her house, Karri began to panic.  Soon, the flames were approaching her house leaving no choice but to flee.

Karri and her husbanded decided to drive to Athabasca and as they drove out of Slave Lake with their young daughter Cassidy, they watched as the town they had lived in their whole lives burned.

“Cassidy watched her whole town burn,” says Karri. “I don’t know how they do it. Kids are so strong.”

Though Karri and her family are able to live in a friend’s camper trailer, she visited the Athabasca shelter to register her family with the Canadian Red Cross.

“What the Red Cross is doing is just amazing. We’ve been helped so much. Thank you.”

As Karri thinks about her daughter’s future, tears come to her eyes. But they aren’t tears for what has been lost but instead they are tears for her community.

“Just because our town has burned down it doesn’t mean our community is gone. A lot of these families have grown up together. No matter what happens, nothing is going to tear that apart. I know Slave Lake will come back bigger and better.”

Canadians who wish to help families like the Kanzig’s are encouraged to make a donation online, by calling 1-800-418-1111 or by visiting a local Canadian Red Cross office.

Posted May 20, 2011