City council at Tuesday's meeting. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

More than 500 evacuees here

City of North Battleford helping wildfire evacuees

May 24, 2023 | 8:40 AM

More than 500 people are currently finding refuge in North Battleford after being displaced due to wildfires in northern Saskatchewan.

North Battleford Mayor David Gillan gave council an update on the city’s work during Tuesday’s meeting. He said the city is helping the evacuees any way it can during their stay here.

Evacuees are here from Patuanak, English River First Nation, and also île-à-la-Crosse.

North Battleford city Councillor Bill Ironstand was absent from city council’s meeting as he is one of the local coordinators on the ground, working on behalf of Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) to assist the evacuees first-hand while they are here.

Gillan said evacuees are receiving three meals a day and are being assisted with their needs. He thanked all those helping with the effort.

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“It’s quite a project and an operation,” he added.

City Manager Randy Patrick noted about 500 evacuees started arriving in North Battleford Friday.

“We have been working with the Meadow Lake Tribal Council setting up the EOC [Emergency Operations Center] activity…,” he said. “We have some provided help as required.”

Families have been offered meals at the Curling Club facility since Friday, with help from the local Curling Club, and at the Don Ross Centre on Tuesday.

“We’ve also been trying to keep the families entertained by providing passes to the pool and facilities. Whatever we’ve been asked for, we’ve been able to help,” Patrick said. “If there are other [needs], we’ll take a look at them, and provide that information to council [to let them know] what is happening.”

Patrick said for the families, who are staying at various hotels in the local area, it might be a fairly long stay for some of them.

“However we are needed, we will respond,” he said.

Mayor Gillan will meet with English River First Nation Acting Chief Jenny Wolverine on Wednesday.

He said the city is doing anything it can to help the families.

‘We want to be a neighbourly community. We want to open up our community for those that are in crisis, because their homes could be lost,” Gillan said. “We have a lot of people in Northern Saskatchewan who are displaced, and we are all doing our best to support them. We are all supporting as much as we can in the [assisting] cities, [to help] our Northern neighbours.”

About half of the over 500 evacuees staying in North Battleford are from Patuanak. The city said it’s been a joint effort to assist the families. The Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) is working with Battlefords Agency Tribal Chiefs Inc. (BATC), the Saskatchewan Health Authority, and the City of North Battleford to help evacuees access services here.

“Everybody is working together,” Gillan said. “It’s a lot of organizations coming together, and we’re just part of that. So, we’re just doing our part.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow