Alberta offers emergency payments to residents displaced by wildfires
Premier asks for volunteer firefighters to step up and join the effort
Alberta will provide one-time emergency payments to anyone evacuated from their home because of wildfires for seven days or longer, Premier Danielle Smith said Monday.
Each eligible adult will receive $1,250; an additional payment of $500 will be made for each dependent child under 18, Smith said during an update on the wildfire situation Monday afternoon.
"This means that an evacuated family of four will receive $3,500 to help get through these dark days and to meet their immediate needs," she said.
"These payments will help evacuees pay for accommodations, food and other basic necessities. The payments will make those expenses one less thing for people to worry about so that they can concentrate on their families and their own well-being."
The premier also put out a call for any trained firefighters — particularly those who are already in rural and remote locations — to volunteer in the battle against the wildfires.
Smith said she has been told that up to 450 members of Indigenous communities in northern Alberta are trained in firefighting.
"We want to be open to seeing if there are individuals in some of those existing rural and remote communities who can integrate into the existing teams so we can have as many hands on deck to fight the fires locally as possible."
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Alberta currently has 700 wildland firefighters on the ground. Smith said the province is expecting up to 1,000 reinforcements to arrive next week from Yukon, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
The province has already welcomed additional firefighters from across the country, including crews from Ontario and Quebec.
Manitoba said Monday it would send firefighters and equipment including two water bombers, which will be based in Lac La Biche, about 170 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
As well, Smith said the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, based in Edmonton, has 300 soldiers trained in firefighting and that the PPCLI has put out a call for reservists to join the battle.
As of Monday afternoon, the situation across the province remained volatile with 98 active wildfires, including 27 that continue to burn out of control.
About 30,000 Albertans have been displaced from their homes.
Payments by e-transfer
Provincial officials urged evacuees to register, either at one of the local evacuation shelters or online.
Once people have been out of their homes for seven days, they can apply for the emergency payments, a process Smith promised would be "quick and easy."
Evacuees can apply for the emergency payment at alberta.ca/emergency using an Alberta.ca Account, the province said in a news release.
Funds can take up to 24 hours to flow into accounts and will be disbursed via e-transfer. To receive payment via e-transfer, Albertans will need a personal email address and a bank account.
Evacuees who are unable to receive an e-transfer or who can't apply online can contact 310-4455 for assistance and to make alternate payment arrangements.
Government ministries are working closely with First Nation and Métis communities to ensure supports are provided directly where appropriate.
Applications will remain open until 30 days after the evacuation order for their community ends.
Military support requested
Earlier Monday, a spokesperson for Smith said she has requested military support and other federal government assistance as the province battles widespread wildfires.
A letter outlining the province's request says Alberta needs military personnel "to provide a measure of security for evacuated communities to guard against looting and disorder."
The letter also requests firefighting resources, strategic airlift resources for the evacuation of isolated communities, engineering support, heavy equipment, water purification resources and "the continued assistance of additional Royal Canadian Mounted Police to support security and evacuations as required."
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that the federal government has reached out to the Red Cross to set up a matching fund to assist those in Alberta impacted by wildfires. He didn't provide specifics about support the federal government could offer.
"Canadians stand with the people of Alberta as they deal with these terrible, terrible wildfires," Trudeau said.
'Everybody's anxious'
Colin Blair, executive director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, told Monday's update there are 15 evacuation orders in place and that 10,000 of the 29,000 evacuees have registered at 11 reception centres.
"Everybody's anxious and if you could walk a mile in another man's shoes you'd feel the uncertainty and the pain that everybody's having," said Brazeau County Reeve Bart Guyon.
County residents, including those living in the town of Drayton Valley, were ordered to evacuate on Thursday, some with less than an hour's notice, he said.
"People want to get back home. They want to know what's going on," he told CBC News.
Some Albertans were given the green light to return Monday.
Evacuation orders for the west-central town of Edson, population 8,000, were lifted as of 8 a.m. MT Monday, Yellowhead County said on social media.
Residents are only being allowed to return to some areas of the county as conditions remain tinder-dry, with fire danger classified as extreme.
The county said services such as gas stations and pharmacies should reopen soon, but residents should be prepared for a reduction in services. A water ban remains in place in Edson.
In Big Lakes County, east of High Prairie, a mandatory evacuation order issued last week was downgraded on Sunday to an evacuation alert. Residents can return home but should be prepared to leave within an hour.
Many properties in the county have no electrical power or natural gas services.
Alberta is under a provincial state of emergency as the province seeks more funding and manpower to manage what Smith has described as an unprecedented crisis.
With so many communities facing the threat of encroaching flames, the damage has been difficult to quantity but some properties have been lost.
In Fox Lake, about 550 kilometres north of Edmonton, the province said a 4,400-hectare wildfire destroyed 20 homes, an RCMP detachment, a store and the community's water treatment plant.
Fox Lake is one of the three Woodland Cree communities that make up the Little Red River Cree Nation. Its leader, Chief Conroy Sewepagaham, has spoken with Federal Indigenous Minister Patty Hajdu.
"Some of the biggest fires [are] impacting [Sewepagaham's] communities," Hajdu said Monday in Ottawa.
"It's been a very difficult time, as you can well imagine, for everyone. Infrastructure is being lost.
"There are active efforts underway to try to protect what infrastructure is remaining, but it's very, very difficult and, I would say, quite a treacherous situation."
Hajdu said First Nations in 15 Alberta and Saskatchewan communities are affected by wildfires and receiving assistance from Indigenous Services Canada.
According to the Alberta government's wildfire website, 405 wildfires have burned more than 391,000 hectares across the province so far this year.
With files from Wallis Snowdon