After close to two weeks in the Energy Centre, evacuees from Saskatchewan have finally returned home.
“It feels really good to have people returning home,” said Tammy Cook-Searson, Chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. “Just seeing people reunited with their families, having kids in the community and having more people here. The people are the heart and soul of the community and without them it's not the same.”
Residents from La Ronge, Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band started arriving in Cold Lake on July 5 after a mandatory evacuation was issued by the Government of Saskatchewan as wildfires burned close to the communities. Close to 700 evacuees were housed in the Reid Field House, Imperial Oil Place arena and the Cold Lake High School gymnasium.
On Friday afternoon (July 17) the evacuation was lifted, allowing residents to return to their homes. The following morning, buses started arriving at the Energy Centre to take people back to their community. By Sunday afternoon, all evacuees had boarded a bus for the much-anticipated drive to Lac La Ronge.
“We were at the road just waving people back in and some people pulled over, jumped out of their vehicle and came and gave us big hugs; they were that happy to be home,” said Cook-Searson. “We have lunch ready for them when they arrive here and coffee, tea, juice. We have transportation all set up for people to drive them home.”
After caring for evacuees for the better part of two weeks, Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland said everyone who was involved in the process have a lot to be proud of.
“It was the largest evacuation in Canada and our situation was unique in having the two governments working together, different First Nations working together and the City working with the American and Canadian Red Cross,” said Copeland.
He added, “I think it was handled as good as it possible could be. The issue was, of course, just the suddenness of it; how quickly it happened on that first weekend. I think a lot of credit goes to the City of Cold Lake staff and the initial Red Cross set-up.”
Despite issues that arose during their stay in Cold Lake, now back in their own communities Cook-Searson said the people are appreciative of the help that was given to them.
“Overall the people were very pleased with the service they received. Even though it was so far away from home, they tried to make the best of it and we just want to say thank you to the community of Cold Lake and the people of Cold Lake for looking after our people.”
She added, “I know we had some issues the first couple of days...we want to say thank you to all the people who reached out including Cold Lake First Nations, for all of their hard work and for working out some of the issues we had.”
It wasn't just the City of Cold Lake that offered a helping hand, Copeland explained that as many as 150 evacuees were being housed by Cold Lake First Nations, as well as there were potentially some staying at the Elizabeth Métis Settlement and Onion Lake First Nations. Representatives from various First Nations groups from Saskatchewan also came in to assist evacuees.
“It was a big regional effort to house and take care of the Saskatchewan residents,” expressed Copeland.
He added, “From what I was told from Saskatchewan representatives, was that the Cold Lake evacuation center was one of the best organized for evacuees. I think we should be pretty proud of what transpired at the Cold Lake Energy Centre.”
With people finally back in their homes, it will take some time before everything gets back to normal. For the duration of the evacuation the town was essentially shut down. Cook-Searson explained that there is a grocery store that has remained open where people can get food, it will probably be Tuesday before normal operations resume at local grocery stores. The hospital also had to be shut down during the evacuation. The emergency department was functional before residents returned home, but it wasn't until Sunday evening that the hospital was fully in order.
“It'll take some time, it'll take some adjusting. People went through difficult times too and challenging times while being evacuated for such a long period,” added Cook-Searson.
While there was no direct impact from the fire within the communities, Cook-Searson said there will be some rebuilding required as structures outside of the Lac La Ronge boundaries were burned in the fire.
“Outside of the community where there's trappers cabins, recreational cabins and homes situated around the lake and in the bush, there were some structures lost.”
After having gone through a mass evacuation, those in the Lac La Ronge Indian Band intend to use this learning experience to take a better look at their protocols. As the largest band in Saskatchewan, it was an eye-opening experience to have all six of their communities affected by either a direct fire threat or the smoke.
“We need to look at the current policies and procedures, just looking at what works, what doesn't work and what needs to be improved,” said Cook-Searson, who noted that they will be working with official from the province to develop a “northern strategy”.
Organizations involved with emergency management within the City of Cold Lake will also be reflecting on the evacuation and taking a look at the current protocols and procedures.
“They'll look at what can be done better and what can be improved. All of the organizations that participated are actually going to be having a meeting and talk about what we could do better next time,” said Copeland.
The clean up on the Energy Centre is already underway. Residents who have been missing out on their fitness classes will soon be able to be back in the Wellness Centre. With every dressing room in the facility being utilized for showers and washrooms for the evacuees, a thorough cleaning of the building is being closely monitored.
“In terms of the clean up of the evacuation centre, it will be supervised by the health inspector also. So the clean up is actually happening right now,” said Copeland. “There's a local firm that has the contract for the Energy Centre and then the high school has it's own cleaners, so both will be following the standards set out by the health inspector.”
The Wellness Centre is expected to be reopened to the public July 21.
