Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation will remain evacuated for at least two more weeks due to the ongoing wildfires, and officials say 40 structures within the community have been damaged.
Jeremy Standingribbon, a single dad and a member of the SLCN, was one of the people evacuated. He described the moment as he saw the fires approaching the reserve. At first, he said he didn’t know what to do.
“I was thinking that we’d (run),” Standingribbon said. “Wherever the flames were coming, I was just going to run from them.”
Standingribbon is now acting as security for the community because of the threat of “looters.”
“We heard that there were looters that stayed behind. Well, everybody evacuated the reserve, so people have had houses busted into (and) people had (their) quads stolen.
“Then they started putting up these barricades and hiring people for security,” Standingribbon said. He is working at one of the boundaries.
Standingribbon added that the situation isn’t all bad, as the support from others in the community has been overwhelming.
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“The … best thing to come out of this is how the community (came) together and rearrange(d) things so quickly and how everybody showed support for those that are still out fighting the fire, and those who are keeping the other houses that are been looted or houses that have been burned down, keeping them safe from other people.”
SLCN was evacuated due to active wildfires in the area on Friday.
An update on the SLCN Facebook page said there is no electricity in 90 per cent of the community. All-natural gas has been shut off so there is no heat available at this time. Testing of the water systems is required to ensure the water will be drinkable in the coming days.
“SLCN leadership and emergency service(s) are developing further plans to ensure a safe and thorough assessment of precautions and a coordinated plan of return. The fire is still active in SLCN,” said the Facebook update on Saturday.
Approximately 1,600 people were evacuated to Valley View and Grande Prairie on Friday. Those who were evacuated to Valley View have since been moved to Edmonton for better access to resources and support.
“According to some unofficial reports, I think the last count is 40 structures have been damaged substantially,” said Sheldon Sunshine, Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation’s Chief, in a Facebook video on Monday.
“We are working on a detailed report where we’ll have a more concrete count of our losses.”
No one is currently allowed in the community.
“Our people are going to be out for maybe a couple of weeks to three weeks,” Chief Sunshine said.
“We are still evaluating the damage as the fires still ongoing. There is more and more damage that continues to occur so we’re not sure … how long a time we’re going to be out of the community. (It) could be two weeks, could be three, four weeks.”
The municipal district of Greenview’s reeve said helicopters are dropping water on hotspots to try and get the fires under control.
The community has concerns about the coming hot weather and change in winds affecting the fires and making them grow more out of control.
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