Red Cross takes new fire evacuees to soccer complex after convention centre fills up

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This article was published 01/09/2017 (2970 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After filling the RBC Convention Centre Thursday with nearly 1,000 evacuees from northern communities threatened by massive wildfires, the Canadian Red Cross set up a secondary emergency lodging centre at the WSF Soccer North centre.

At least 700 more evacuees from St. Theresa Point, Garden Hill and Wasagamack First Nations were expected to land in Winnipeg Friday via airlift by charter and military planes. They’ll be housed at the soccer complex for the time being.

Since evacuation processes began, about 2,500 people have been brought to Winnipeg to seek temporary refuge as the fires continue to rage.

Audrey and Carl Monias were among the first evacuees to arrive at the Garden City facility, bringing along 11 of their grandchildren.

“Last night, we saw a glow of red west of the (Garden Hill) community, and most people drove to the west side of the community to have a look at that glow from the forest fire,” Carl said.

Audrey, a band councillor in Garden Hill, said she’s relieved to be with her grandchildren. The Red Cross said keeping families together is of utmost importance.

Volunteers, who’ve been working around the clock had set up close to 300 cots inside the facility by 9 a.m. The building can safely accommodate more than 900 people.

At the convention centre, where busloads of evacuees arrived throughout the day Thursday, there are no shower facilities; at the soccer complex, evacuees will have access to the more than a dozen team rooms, equipped with showers, sinks and accessible washrooms.

Jason Small, a spokesman for the Red Cross, said that shower options were still being sought for the convention centre lodgers, and that laundry facilities were not yet available to the evacuees. However, he said, those problems will be addressed as people get settled in. A deal with a laundromat near the soccer complex is close to being done.

Food services will be available on the soccer complex’s second floor, and though it isn’t as well-equipped as the convention centre is for meal provisions, it should be able to properly feed the evacuees.

While original estimates of the total of evacuees from the communities hovered around 3,700, Small clarified those figures were a little higher than what’s needed. Some 3,200 people will stay in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson while fire crews attempt to contain the fires, some of which have travelled to within a kilometre of homes.

In Wasagamack, as of Friday morning, the flames of a 230-square-kilometre fire were only 800 metres away from the nearest houses, and strong south winds have been preventing smoke from reaching the community.

Though the fires in the other threatened communities were not as close, they were considered close enough to make evacuation necessary; however, evacuations of St. Theresa Point and Garden Hill were done on a priority basis, and Small estimated somewhere between 2,000 and 3,000 people in the two communities were still there as of Friday afternoon. Those people have not been told to leave yet.

A 46-square-kilometre fire near Poplar River has been active for over a week only 3 1/2 kilometres from the community, and suppression efforts on a 17-square-kilometre fire near Fox Lake First Nation are ongoing.

Canadian Armed Forces public affairs spokesman Capt. Derek Reid said that as of 11 a.m. Friday, military flights had transported a total of 778 evacuees to Winnipeg. The flights have been carried out by two Royal Canadian Air Force Hercules aircraft, each of which will conduct multiple sorties per day, with about 100 people on board for each flight. Rangers are also supporting evacuation efforts in St. Theresa Point, where evacuees are being moved by boat to the Island Lake Airport in Garden Hill.

According to a release from the Manitoba Department of Sustainable Development and the Office of the Fire Commissioner, five Ontario fire crews joined suppression efforts already being conducted by crews from the Northwest Territories and Minnesota on Friday.

During a news conference, Premier Brian Pallister thanked the fire departments from outside Manitoba for their support in suppressing the fires.

Arlen Dumas, Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, arrived at the soccer complex shortly after the first two buses arrived at about 10:15 a.m.

Dumas said he’s been impressed with the swift action taken by members of northern communities, city representatives and Red Cross volunteers, and the treatment of evacuees so far.

“I know that it’s a traumatic experience, but we have to keep in mind the greater goal of trying to keep everybody looked after, and I hope that we can all come together in that fashion,” he said.

Because not all residents from the northern communities have been evacuated yet, due to both priority and relative severity of the respective fires, Dumas said different contingency plans are in place to bring people to safety should the need exist.

Small said there are plans in place to house additional evacuees if the soccer complex reaches capacity.

Bob Chochinov, a veteran Red Cross volunteer with 40 years of experience, worked from noon to midnight Thursday.

And Chochinov was back Friday at 6 a.m., unfolding cots as city crews laid out flooring on the indoor soccer fields’ turf.

Chochinov said it’s paramount for the volunteers to make things as easy as possible for evacuees and ensure they have everything they need.

He and Small thanked the Winnipeg Police Service cadets for helping out, as well as friends, families and the Winnipeg Soccer Federation for providing ample space in a quick manner.

Small said the Red Cross is not asking for donations for the evacuees; the cost of the rescue is being covered by the federal government.

He said the agency is always seeking volunteers, but there is no guarantee training would be completed in time to help with the fire evacuations.

The convention centre may need some or all of the space being used for evacuees by the middle of September, but Small said nothing is confirmed yet. And he said the Red Cross does not yet have a date when the soccer complex will need to regain use of the pitches and dressing rooms.

Chochinov said there’s no way to predict how long the evacuees will be away from their homes.

“Only the fire knows,” he said.

With rain falling sporadically in Winnipeg throughout the morning, Dumas said there was hope similar weather would move northward to aid fire-suppression efforts. Some rain is in the forecast for the Wasagamack area Friday.

“I was talking to some of these elders, and they’re going to pray that this rain goes north and, hopefully, the fire goes out,” he said.

ben.waldman@freepress.mb.ca

With files from Nick Martin