SLAVE LAKE, Alta. — Crystal Genier’s five children hopped out of the family SUV with big grins on their faces as they jubilantly ran toward the evacuee food truck outside the Slave Lake rec centre Sunday afternoon.
The Genier family just heard the news that after two weeks away from their home in High Level due to raging wildfires in the town, they are allowed to return.
“I’m really excited, I’m happy to go home,” Genier said with her five children aged 6-12 jumping with excitement around her. “I just want to sleep in my bed, be in my house.”
High Level Mayor Crystal McAteer announced the long-awaited news in a Facebook video with Premier Jason Kenney Sunday morning.
“Yes, you can come home,” McAteer said at the start of the video.
And that is when Garry and Shirley Murphy stopped listening as they were having a tea in the Slave Lake Tim Hortons.
“We saw the mayor’s report and all I heard was you can go back home. So we left, drove back to the hotel, packed up everything … and then heard it’s tomorrow,” Shirley Murphy said.
But their suitcases are packed and ready to go when about 4,000 evacuees are allowed to return home after 10 a.m.
“The people here have been amazing, but it’s nice to get home,” Murphy said, noting she can’t wait to see her children and grandchildren staying in a trailer out of the town. “I started crying of course, but that’s me, I cry over everything.”
‘Stay safe’
Residents of High Level and surrounding communities in Mackenzie County fled their homes on May 20 as the Chuckegg Creek wildfire, now sitting at 279,551 hectares, set its sights on the town. They were sent south to several communities, some now under evacuation alerts of their own including Slave Lake as another set of wildfires burns nearby.
Returning evacuees will receive a re-entry package along Highway 58 outlining procedures for cleaning out taps and disposing of spoiled food.
The town’s hospital, grocery stores, banks and gas stations are ready and eagerly awaiting residents to return.
But the town isn’t out of the woods yet as the fire continues to rage to the south. Re-entered communities will be placed on an evacuation alert and McAteer is urging all residents to be prepared to leave again.
“Stay vigilant. Stay safe. The wildfire is still burning. Let’s make sure we get back home safely,” the post said.
This doesn’t bother Genier as Slave Lake has been under a similar alert since Thursday.
“Slave Lake has been awesome. They are so kind. I think they have the memory of living through it themselves and they really wanted to do a good deed for us,” said Genier, noting the kids were kept busy with trips to the library, parks and the local pool.
An educational assistant in High Level, both Genier and her kids said they were very excited about returning to the school routine. But on Sunday afternoon, Fort Vermilion School Division announced all of its 17 schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year for student safety.
“A mandatory inspection … indicated that all FVSD school division schools need to be professionally cleaned, a service our staff are not certified to provide,” superintendent Mike McMann said in a Facebook post.
Not all communities displaced by the fire will be able to return as the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement that lost several buildings from the fire remains evacuated and surrounding communities remain on alert.
Kenney tours wildfire areas
Premier Jason Kenney arrived in Slave Lake Sunday afternoon, after joining McAteer for the announcement in High Level and an aerial trip over the scene.
Kenney said the province believes 15 structures were lost in Paddle Prairie, including nine homes, four of which weren’t occupied.
“We regret very much the loss of some property in Paddle Prairie,” Kenney said. “I understand the frustration of some of the local residents. We really do grieve for them.”
“It’s a sad story, but ultimately all I can say is we should all be very grateful that there’s been no loss of life and no serious injury,” he said.
Following a briefing with Alberta Wildfire officials, Kenney said precipitation and humidity around High Level has assisted in supressing fire activity, but the fires are expected to burn for a lengthy period.
“This is going to be a long summer and the forestry services advises me some of these fires will be burning through right to winter,” he said after landing in Slave Lake.
Slave Lake area fires
Sunday afternoon was Kenney’s first visit to the Slave Lake-area fires for an aerial tour of the McMillan Complex, two out-of-control wildfires that joined Sunday and sitting around 214,547 hectares.
Current concerns for this fire is the close proximity to Wabasca at about 4.5 kilometres on the east side as well as lightning in the area causing new starts.
Alberta Wildfire said crews are fighting 10 new wildfires as a result of the Saturday night lightning, but they aren’t threatening communities.
Evacuation payments
Kenney said the province will be extending the evacuation payments to three communities displaced by the wildfires.
One-time payments of $1,250 and $500 for each dependent child will be available for evacuees from Wabasca, Big Stone Cree Nation and Keg River.
“Those people have been evacuated for more than 72 hours,” Kenney said. “They can start applying today and start getting money electronically or cards as early as tomorrow.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
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