Red Cross helping Sask. wildfire evacuees
CBC
The Canadian Red Cross is assisting with evacuee registration and providing meals and emergency accommodations for Saskatchewan residents fleeing wildfires.
"It's been hard to find places for people with so many people evacuating [communities] all at one," said Luc Mullinder, Canadian Red Cross vice-president for Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut, in an CBC News Network interview.
"We're working with a number of organizations that are trying to help people from Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In a really bad situation it has been refreshing to hear from all of the organizations reaching out."
Evacuees can also register with the Canadian Red Cross on its website, which also has information for people looking to donate to a relief fund established specifically for Saskatchewan and Manitoba evacuees.
With wildfires continuing to rampage, Regina resident Trevor Phenix went north this week to save his cabin.
Phenix, who owns a family cabin near Besnard Lake, about 560 kilometres north of Regina, already lost the cabin once in 2015 to wildfires and had to rebuild it. He said he had been watching the fire's progress for days and made the call to head up to the area Monday morning.
"I got a call from my cousin asking if I'd seen the fire map," he said. "I looked at it and it was pretty apparent that the fire was either already at the cabin or was going to be there pretty quickly."
Phenix went up to the cabin with a plan to test and set up more sprinklers and fire pumps.
On Tuesday morning, he saw a fire within about 75 metres of the cabin. Phenix said he hustled to make sure the sprinklers were working, and by the time he got to the top of the cabin, the fire had reached its base.
Phenix was able to save the cabin after dousing the area with water.
"We're very fortunate, very lucky."
SaskTel said in a news release Wednesday a wildfire near McLennan Lake, northeast of La Ronge, had damaged fibre infrastructure, causing major network congestion in northern Saskatchewan.
Internet, wireless and landline phone services have been disrupted in several communities, including Southend, Wollaston Lake, Stony Rapids and Fond du Lac, the Crown telecomms corporation said.
Crews are currently unable to access the area and begin repairs due to the fire threat, SaskTel said.
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