Daily Herald
Sandy Bay wildfire evacuees received one final meal courtesy of Prince Albert volunteers before heading back on Tuesday.
The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency announced that Sandy Bay is sufficiently safe for residents to return. To facilitate the returning process, Salvation Army volunteers prepared meals for the residents heading home.
Major Ed Dean of the Prince Albert Salvation Army said they want to help make the transition back home as smooth as possible.
“It’s stressful on the family, when you’ve been in a hotel for just about a month,” Dean said. “They came out on Aug. 16, and so it’s been a long journey, especially if you add a couple of children into that mix.”
Dean estimated Salvation Army volunteers provided around 540 repatriation lunches in Saskatoon and Prince Albert on Tuesday. It’s expected they’ll need more lunches again in Saskatoon on Wednesday.
Dean said some evacuees headed home as soon as they could, while others are waiting a day or two.
“Repatriation meals will include two sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, two bottles of water, and four snacks, so that’s a pretty good lunch,” Dean said.
“Our goal is always to return the folks, our visitors, to their homes as safety as possible and as quickly as possible,” he added.
The Sandy Bay residents were evacuated to safety in Saskatoon, Regina and Prince Albert.
“The Salvation army is covering all three of them,” Dean said. “We have a group in Saskatoon that are preparing meals, we have a group in Regina that will prepare meals when the time comes, and we have another group here in Prince Albert.”
The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and other groups have been working and coordinating the evacuation as well as the returning of the Residents to their homes.
The priority one group have not been asked to return yet, so it’s a gradual process of resettling the residents.
editorial@paherald.sk.ca
