Fires (Page 7)

The Red Cross blanket hanging on the wall of Jason Grant’s new home is a reminder of the help he received when a fire forced him out of his previous home. In May, a fire damaged his central Winnipeg apartment building and he was forced to leave his home. “Basically, I had nowhere to stay,” said Grant.

Fire races through a picturesque valley in southeast B.C. People flee the charging flames, some in just their bathing suits after a swim in the Kettle River. In just a few hours, in August 2015, a raging wildfire forced people from Rock Creek to Westbridge to drop everything, and evacuate.

When Robert Waniandy fled the Alberta wildfires with just a garbage bag full of clothes, the 65-year-old had no idea when or where he would see his wife again. The smoke and chaos in Fort McMurray had prompted his wife, Annie Auger, 71, to leave Fort McMurray a few days earlier. When Waniandy, a retired welder, finally reached the evacuation centre at Edmonton’s Expo Centre, he felt so sick that he could only lie listlessly on his cot. Concerned volunteers transferred him to the Royal Alexandra hospital, where he discovered his wife had also been admitted with health issues.

Need help with gas? Have a question about your accommodation? Don’t worry. Volunteers with Canadian Red Cross are ready, well-trained and able to help with hundreds of concerns raised daily by people forced to flee the Alberta wildfires.

Audrey Redcrow is eager to return home to Fort McKay.  But she’s scared of what she may find when she gets there. Audrey, her four children, and their Siberian Husky, Diesel, were evacuated from their northern community on May 7 after the fire threatening Fort McMurray moved towards Fort McKay First Nation.
 

Ever since Megan Whitmore ran from her house, strapped her naked baby in his car seat and fled ahead of advancing flames, the Fort McMurray mother says she can’t say enough nice things about Canadian Red Cross and its amazing donors.

Grateful replies from Alberta fire evacuees wanting to thank Canadians for their overwhelming support, poured into Canadian Red Cross just moments after emails went out Wednesday offering evacuees $50 million in immediate financial assistance.

The Canadian Red Cross has mobilized to help the people affected by wildfires in Alberta. Massive wildfires have triggered the largest fire-related evacuation in Alberta's history, and due to high temperatures and wind the situation has the potential to become more serious.