Saskatchewan wildfire evacuees grateful for community support but worried about their homes
Wildfires and smoke have forced hundreds to flee from several northern villages and First Nations
English River First Nation Elder Rodrick Apesis remains in good spirits despite a wildfire forcing him out of his home.
Apesis is one of more than 100 people who were evacuated from English River First Nation and brought to North Battleford — which is about 400 kilometres southeast of their community.
Hundreds more have been evacuated from other First Nations and villages to North Battleford, Regina and Lloydminster because of the wildfires in northern Saskatchewan.
"We thank everybody from the town here. I'm really grateful for what you've done for the youth here. I'm very grateful and I'm thankful," Apesis said.
"We have our own security here and we are doing the best that we can to help our people out, and it's going pretty good right now."
Despite being grateful, Veronica Apesis, a community health representative from English River First Nation, said evacuees are concerned about their homes.
"This morning, they are worried. The other night, the fire was close to home — there was smoke — they were quite worried," Veronica Apesis said on Thursday in North Battleford. "They've been checking the weather. We have a lot of faith, that counts."
At 8:30 a.m CST on Friday, there were 29 active fires in Saskatchewan and six were not contained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA).
Bryan Chartrand, SPSA's director of land operations, said the dry weather in the region and the significant size of the fires will likely keep evacuees away from home for awhile.
"It won't be anytime in the near future. We are looking at least a week-plus from now, unless we get a large rain event that is not forecasted right now," Chartrand said on Thursday.
Geneva Kelly is a family wellness outreach worker helping the evacuees in North Battleford. She said spending extended periods of time away from their home community can be difficult.
"They are coping well. So far they have been in good spirits for the most part," Kelly said on Thursday.
"I think the young moms are starting to get a little distressed. You know, they have young kids to try to contain in a hotel. That can be difficult."
Kelly added that support workers have been putting activities in place so kids are monitored and they have something to keep them busy.
The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is helping with the evacuation efforts.
"The tribal council provides transportation organization, hotels, accommodations, meals — and we work with both the province and the Red Cross to provide personal support and try to just get people through the challenging time of being evacuated," said Daryl Wright, MLTC's emergency response plan co-ordinator.
Wright said health, mental health, child and family services are among the supports being provided for the evacuees.
"[We're trying to] just really do a transfer of care from what normally might occur on our reserve health system to the provincial health system," he said.
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With files from Jason Warick and Will McLernon