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Thursday, May 26, 2011 www.metronews.ca News worth sharing.
JOHN ULAN/THE CANADIAN PRESS
Life to return to Slave Lake within days, officials say Transportation to be provided for those without vehicles Power fully restored Natural gas available in areas not destroyed by fire Water running, with boiled water advisory
Slave Lake, Alta., resident Brenda Derkoch hugs her son Cory after returning to the Athabasca Multiplex evacuation shelter on Monday, following a tour of her burnt-out town, where her family’s home was destroyed.
Life is returning to the fire-scarred and empty streets of Slave Lake in northern Alberta. Officials outlined a three-stage plan yesterday to send essential workers home first, followed by workers at major businesses. The rest of the 7,000 residents could end nearly two weeks of exile as early as Friday. “It’s very exciting for us,” said Mayor Karina Pillay-Kenny. “It’s probably precedent-setting and we couldn’t have done it without all the resources, all the volunteers and the municipalities and the province. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Slave Lake was emptied by a raging wildfire that roared out of control May 15, stoked by winds gusting up to 100 kilometres an hour. Some people had mere minutes to
collect their families, gather a lifetime’s worth of memories, get in their cars and drive. For many, it was just in time. The fire devastated whole blocks of homes and businesses. Neighbourhoods were flattened. Houses burned to their foundations and yards reduced to ashy tundra. Hundreds of vehicles were incinerated. Businesses and government offices were reduced to tangled piles of rubble. Officials have estimated about one-third of the town was damaged or destroyed. Fire refugees have been staying in hotels, with family and friends or at one of three evacuee centres. But that was coming to an end yesterday with the return of essential workers to the community.
Return stages Key people going back first: “People with health services, utilities, infrastructure people, governance people — all the key people we need to support the re-entry of everybody else,” Mayor Karina Pillay-Kenny said. Employees of vital businesses, such as grocery stores, banks and gas stations are to be allowed back Thursday — if all goes well. Everybody else is to follow on Friday, again, as long as there are no problems.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
LIFE AS ITĎS MEANT TO BE SEEN
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