SEX EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS A LOOK AT HOW WELL IT’S WORKING {page 23} SCHWARZENEGGER ADMITS TO FATHERING LOVE CHILD WITH STAFFER {page 18}
SAN FRAN LEAVES EVERYONE SATISFIED {page 21}
CALGARY
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing. TM
IAN JACKSON/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Residents demand to know status of homes Around 100 wildfires in Alberta, about a quarter of which are out of control High Prairie has declared a state of emergency Frustration mounted yesterday for thousands of evacuees trying to find out if they have homes to return to after a wildfire reduced a large part of their town to cinders. “You don’t know what you have back there anymore,” said Patty Lewis, who was staying at an evacuation centre in Athabasca, southeast of the burned-out community of Slave Lake. “You don’t even know when you can go home. We were told we could go home in a couple of days. Now we’ve been told two weeks, so I don’t know.” Resident Laurie Northeast added: “People want to know who lost their home and who didn’t. Do we have something to go back to? Is there a reason to go back?” Lewis, Northeast and about 7,000 other Slave Lake residents were ordered out of town Sunday night when forest fires — whipped up by 100 km/h winds — swooped in and set fire to homes, businesses and cars. The flames turned entire neighbourhoods into wastelands of burnt concrete, black grass and twisted metal. Officials and police are not let-
Animals burned The Edmonton Humane Society was called in to Slave Lake yesterday to look for any animals lost or injured during the firestorm. “We’ve got reports that a lot of animals have been burned,” said spokesman Stephanie Macdonald.... We’ve got reports of a couple of horses that we need to get evacuated out of there.” In addition to Slave Lake, the communities of Loon Lake, Red Earth Creek, Little Buffalo, Martin Lake, Whitefish and Chisholm are under mandatory evacuation orders.
ting residents back into the town, 250 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, because the smoke is too heavy, chemicals hang in the air and there is no electricity, power or drinking water. Mayor Karina Pillay-Kinnee said while it may be a couple of weeks before residents can return, officials are trying to at least get word
to people about which properties have been damaged or destroyed. “It is a priority. I understand the frustration of residents,” said Pillay-Kinnee. “In the next day or two we hope to have a system set up where they can access their private information.” Wildfire spokesman Rob Harris said the town on the shore of Lesser Slave Lake isn’t considered safe. The freight-train winds that whipped sparks and embers onto rooftops Sunday have abated to about half their strength, but the blaze is not under control. “It really depends on the weather,” said Harris, who works for Sustainable Resource Development. “If we get strong winds like we saw on the weekend, it’s still a possibility (that the fire could re-enter the community),” he said. Residents who fled are staying with friends or family or at one of three evacuation centres as far south as Edmonton. THE CANADIAN PRESS
For more coverage, go to metronews.ca/calgary
Chris Radis holds his cat Kratos at the evacuee centre in Athabasca yesterday. An emergency official says there’s no timeline as to when residents will be able to return to their homes in an area scorched by fires.
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