First Nation Chief grateful for outpouring of supporting for evacuees

Despite that, she said the City of Lloydminster and its residents have been extremely supportive and helpful.

“It’s overwhelming support. It makes you cry, it tears you up knowing that these people are willing to help,” she said. “We know the people do care. There’s a lot of empathy out there and we are seeing it and I’m so grateful for that.”

She provided a couple of examples of that empathy. One involved the owner of a laundromat in the city which normally closes around 7 p.m. He kept the business open till 11 p.m. so that evacuees could wash their clothes.

Another example happened at the local Wal-Mart as one woman was buying toys for children when someone else offered to pay for them.

Catarat said physical necessities are being provided by the City, the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, the SPSA, and the Canadian Red Cross.

She added mental health support is also being given.

“We probably have close to 20 people daily on the ground with mental health services,” she said. “They walk around, drive around, talk to kids, talk to the Elders because some people need to vent because of the frustration and the stress.”

While the wildfire hasn’t destroyed any property on the First Nation, Catarat said she has heard of many cabins being consumed by the fire.

“Unfortunately, that’s a big loss for a lot of our people because those are their traditional hunting grounds, their gathering grounds, their trapping cabins, their fishing (lands), it is a big loss,” she said. “That’s the part that’s kind of tough to deal with when I do sit down with some of the people that lost their cabins.”

She added the fire has destroyed most of the forest on the highway in and out of the First Nation.

As firefighting efforts continue, there is some hope on the horizon as a possibility of showers and rain is in the forecast starting Sunday.

Despite this, Catarat explained they have no timeline as to when they can return home

“The smoke is coming and going, and the thickness is so bad that you can’t see across the street at some points. For our safety, we have to stay where we are at,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Red Cross is providing several resources to evacuees in Lloydminster including help with registration at hotels, financial assistance, and wellness checks.

When asked what help they need from people in Saskatchewan, Provincial VP Luc Mullinder said the best thing to donate is time.

“Becoming a volunteer, whether it’s us or organizations that are helping Meadow Lake Tribal Council and Buffalo River Dene Nation,” he said. “The challenge is making sure we are connecting the resources to the people that need it the most.”

He added that historically, wildfire season and evacuations come later in the summer so they anticipate they will be called upon to help more people in the coming months.

Heading into the May long weekend, the SPSA said there were 26 active wildfires burning throughout the province as of 1:30 p.m. Friday, an increase of one from Thursday afternoon.

Of the fires burning, 11 were under assessment, nine were listed under control, five were considered out of control, and one was classified as protecting property.

–With files from 650 CKOM

by Derek Craddock

First Nation Chief grateful for outpouring of supporting for evacuees

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