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Mail being sorted in P.A. for evacuees

Jul 11, 2015 | 8:29 AM

The fires in northern Saskatchewan have had a broad impact and now are affecting mail in Prince Albert.

There have been long lines and lengthy wait times at the Canada Post central office this past week because mail from the evacuated communities is getting sorted there. 

“Our people are working around the clock out there to make sure they can get mail to those people who have been evacuated,” said John Caines with Canada Post.

He said they’ve set up a special procedure to handle the influx of customers. 

When an evacuee comes to the office, they are asked to fill out a form and are then told to come back in a couple of hours and pick it up. Canada Post employees then go to the respective community section and pull the mail out.

“It’s going really well, lines are moving quite well.  In the heat out there we are actually bringing in bottles of water for people and some freezies for the kids,” said Caines.

Caines said Canada Post is equipped to handle emergencies like this, and staff are very dedicated.  That being said, he admits the job has its challenges.

“The other issues we’re having is people who have been evacuated to Saskatoon or Regina, we don’t know who they are or where they’ve been evacuated to,” said Caines.

Emergency Services is providing a list of names to Canada Post.

“Once we get that we’ll be able to take that mail that’s been piling up and move it down to the evacuation sites,” said Caines.

Caines said mail is a bit lower on the priority scale for emergency management compared to food and shelter, but he adds the mail will be sent out.

nmaxwell@panow.com

Follow on Twitter: @nigelmaxwell