Fort McMurray wildfire: Maritimers eager to aid evacuees

The strong connection between Maritimers and Fort McMurray has led many east coasters to reach out, hoping to help evacuees affected by the massive wildfire.

Officials in Alberta say approximately 1,600 buildings have been destroyed or damaged and 88,000 people were evacuated from the affected areas.

READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire: Roughly 1,600 buildings destroyed in ‘catastrophic’ fire

Since word of the wildfire spread on the news and social media, Carrie Amero has been busy at work. The Dartmouth woman has an aunt and uncle who escaped the fire with very few belongings.

Amero was so affected by the disaster, she has been working to organize a mass collection of donated items to send to Fort McMurray.

“It compelled me to want to reach out and do anything I could to help them out there,” Amero said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It compelled me to want to reach out and do anything I could to help them out there," Amero said.

“I want to be able to get a lot of people in Nova Scotia who have ties and who don’t even have ties to collect things to be sent there to them.”

READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire: How Canadians can help

She’s hoping to collect clothes, toiletries, pet food and non-perishable foods. So far, a Nova Scotia business has offered to store the donations and a warehouse in Grand Prairie, Alta., has agreed to store the items in Alberta. However, she’s still looking for a trucking company to transport the donations.

“I want to be able to get a truck of some sort, an 18-wheeler, and also if anybody wants to help out with trailers and whatnot that are planning to go back out to Alberta to be able to load things up and take them back,” she said.

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Crowdfunding campaigns have also cropped up in an attempt to raise money for specific families or the aid effort in general.

Dartmouth’s Kendra Beck started a GoFundMe page and hopes raise $1,000, which she says she will donate to the Canadian Red Cross.

“I think everyone has a part in them that says ‘what can I do to help out?'” Beck said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I think everyone has a part in them that says 'what can I do to help out?'" Beck said.

READ MORE: ‘It’s just chaotic. It’s unbelievable’: Cape Breton woman describes Fort McMurray wildfire evacuation

While the Canadian Red Cross is aware people are eager to aid evacuees, they say the most efficient way to help is to donate money directly to the Red Cross.

“The best way for people to help out at this point is actually to make a financial donation to the Red Cross, because that way we can get the immediate needs there,” said Ismael Aquino, the provincial director for the Canadian Red Cross of Nova Scotia.

“We can deal with it on a local basis and have the branch of the Alberta Red Cross helping us out.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We can deal with it on a local basis and have the branch of the Alberta Red Cross helping us out."

The Red Cross is also preparing a contingent of volunteers, in case they are called out to assist in the efforts in Fort McMurray.

Similarly, the provinces are getting ready to send first responders, should they be called upon.

READ MORE: ‘I’m not going to have a house to go home to’: Nova Scotia family flees Fort McMurray wildfire

“We have a mutual aid agreement with all the other provinces so if there is a situation that we’re dealing with or another province is dealing with and they do not have the person power, we help each other out through resources, people, all those sorts of things,” said Nova Scotia’s Minister of Municipal Affairs and Emergency Management Office, Zach Churchill.

In New Brunswick, Public Safety Minister Stephen Horsman says there is an outpouring of support and eagerness to help.

“We’ve got a lot of calls from fire departments and first responders in our province wondering if they could help out,” Horsman said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We've got a lot of calls from fire departments and first responders in our province wondering if they could help out," Horsman said.

“So we’ve been monitoring on an hourly basis through our emergency management organization and keeping an hourly update on things to make sure when the call is needed, we’ll be ready for them.”