Financial aid coming for evacuees displaced by High Level wildfire
Evacuees forced from their homes by wildfire in northern Alberta can receive emergency cash from the Alberta government starting Sunday.
Adults displaced by mandatory evacuation orders will qualify for $1,250 in aid plus $500 for each dependent child, Municipal Affairs Minister Kaycee Madu announced in Edmonton Friday afternoon.
“We hope this will help you and give you some peace of mind during this stressful time,” Madu said at the legislature.
Madu asked the roughly 5,000 Albertans displaced by fire to sign up online for a MyAlberta Digital ID account.
Starting at noon Sunday, evacuees can use that account to request an aid payment, he said.
People unable to receive electronic bank transfers can also pick up preloaded debit cards from one of seven reception centres starting at 10 a.m. Monday.
Evacuees will likely be displaced from their homes until at least Tuesday, emergency officials also said Friday.
“That would be nice, that would be helpful because ... a lot of people left meat and stuff in the fridges and the freezers and the power was out for more than 24 hours, two days,” said evacuated resident Andrew Surma Friday.
Josh Knelsen, a reeve for Mackenzie County, said: “For the people with mortgage payments and bills to pay this couldn’t come at a better time.”
Wayne Heinz is worried about being laid off until the evacuation order is lifted.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty about our pay. A lot of guys aren’t gonna sit around and wait, they’ve got families and bills to pay.”
Shane Schreiber, managing director of the Alberta Emergency Management Agency, said forecasters anticipate the wind will shift toward the town of High Level on Sunday, which is a concern.
Conditions remain dry and conducive to rapid spread of fire, said Christie Tucker, information unit lead for Alberta Wildfire, on Friday.
“We are not out of the woods,” she said. “We are watching the weather very, very closely this weekend.”
There are 154 “structural firefighters” working to protect buildings in the High Level area, she said.
Another 360 wildland firefighters are fighting back the blaze, Tucker said, including more than 300 firefighters who’ve arrived from B.C., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, the Northwest Territories and Prince Edward Island.
Another 86 firefighters were expected to arrive Friday from Ontario, and Alberta Wildfire has requested the help of 200 more, she said.
Schreiber said evacuees who left pets behind can call 780-926-2201 to request someone check on and feed animals.