After more than three weeks, Edmonton Fire Rescue Chief Ken Block said the city’s reception centre for wildfire evacuees was “officially closed” Friday.
Since the Fort McMurray wildfire forced the evacuation of the entire city – and roughly 80,000 residents – Northlands Expo Centre has registered 25,000 people and served 75,000 meals.
The city opened the centre on May 4 and offered thousands of people accommodations, food, clothing, counselling and other resources.
At the peak time, about 2,000 evacuees were sleeping in the Expo Centre. Thursday night, no one slept there, he said.
Block said more transitional housing options have been found for the evacuees and fewer people were sleeping in cots at the Expo Centre.
“We’re kind of moving from the emergency response phase to the recovery phase,” he explained. “At some point there does need to be a transition.”
Watch below: After helping 25,000 Fort McMurray evacuees, the reception centre at Edmonton’s Northlands Expo Centre closed Friday. Fire Chief Ken Block explains.
All the evacuees who stayed at the centre have found medium-term housing. The voluntary re-entry to Fort McMurray is set to begin June 1.
READ MORE: Fort McMurray evacuees pick up more supplies in Edmonton before returning home
Evacuees can still pick up clothing and other supplies at the Edmonton Emergency Relief Services Society’s donation centre in Kingsway Mall
READ MORE: Edmonton launches online housing registry for Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees
He said having the reception centre in Edmonton was challenging at times, but it brought out the best in the city.
“It was busy and it was hectic. It was a bit of an organized scramble,” the fire chief said.
“It was an incredible operation to watch.”
“Edmonton is a tremendous community,” Block said. “We had staff from every department, every branch, that pitched in and made this work.”
“I know that the evacuees that came down were so appreciative.”
READ MORE: Fort McMurray wildfire: Edmonton Expo Centre sees 17,000 evacuees
The fire chief praised the thousands of city staff and volunteers that helped make the reception centre function smoothly and help out fellow Albertans.
“We’ve got great staff, great employees,” Block said. “Edmontonians are so gracious and they stepped forward… It’s kind of heart warming to know that northern Albertans… Albertans in general, pull together in an emergency like this. That’s reassuring. You never know when it’s going to be us.”