Manitoba

Red Cross opens call centre in Winnipeg for Fort McMurray evacuees

​The Red Cross has opened a call centre in Winnipeg to deal with the influx of calls from Fort McMurray evacuees who are starting to head home.

Red Cross announces extra $40 million to support wildfire evacuees as they return

Red Cross adds call centre in Winnipeg for Fort McMurray evacuees returning home

8 years ago
Duration 1:02
Red Cross volunteers and staffers are answering calls about next steps, financial assistance and travel support as Fort McMurray evacuees return home

The Red Cross has opened a call centre in Winnipeg to deal with the influx of calls from Fort McMurray evacuees who are starting to head home.

On Thursday, the Red Cross announced they would provide an extra $40 million to support Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees as they return.
The devastated neighbourhood of Beacon Hill is shown in Fort McMurray on May 13. A Red Cross call centre has been set up in Winnipeg to help evacuees return home. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)

The Winnipeg-based call centre is to help with calls from evacuees about next steps, financial needs and travel support.

So far, Manitoba's Red Cross team has helped 70 evacuee families.

"If they're a family we've been working with in Manitoba, we've been connecting with them once they return home so that we know that they're safe, and then we actually have information centres set up all over Fort McMurray where folks can go and access information again," said Cailin Hodder, the manager of the Red Cross disaster management program in Manitoba.

If you need help or information, Red Cross can be reached at 1-888-350-6070.