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The Fort McMurray area is home to almost 90,000 people. Each of them has their own experience and story after May’s wildfires tore through the region. That’s why Red Cross case workers continue to meet with families and individuals to talk through their personal needs and find effective ways to assist. Reaching those people means working alongside community groups like the Nistawoyou Association Friendship Centre. The Canadian Red Cross is partnering with the Centre to help connect with aboriginal residents.

Disaster is not new to Nancy Hollman. Imagine a stormy, grey, summer afternoon. On her bed with her two and a half year old son, Hollman was suddenly thrown to the floor and covered in debris. It was July 31, 1987. A tornado had just demolished her Edmonton home. 27 people died, but Nancy and her child survived to be rescued from the rubble. Almost 30 years later, Nancy is now working with the Canadian Red Cross, meeting with people who lost their homes just three months ago, in the Alberta wildfires. 

There are a lot of excuses the three of us could have used to not wear our lifejackets. After all, we are all confident swimmers;  the water was calm; we weren’t going very far out; we could just throw three lifejackets in the canoe; and we all felt pretty comfortable with our canoe abilities. The thing is, all of these reasons only make sense in a world where nothing goes wrong, and especially nothing goes wrong as quickly as a canoe tipping over. 

For civilian populations, war and conflict bring hardship. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) exists to protect those who are not fighting, or who are no longer fighting in wars and conflicts – and to help populations from suffering. IHL protects civilians from being targets, but also protects the materials civilians need to survive 

A celebration of resiliency and togetherness brought together Fort McMurray’s Metis community at its annual Metis Festival on July 25^th. The event was delayed a couple of months because of the wildfire in May.
McMurray Metis’ office, storage and entire site was destroyed by the wildfire that swept through the community, forcing thousands of people to evacuate. While fortunately the group was able to save many of its archives, all of its data and documentation was lost

Red Cross volunteer Nicole Beauchamp, her husband Robert, and their family have long served their community and country. Beauchamp has been with Red Cross for 20 years and spent part of her summer assisting Alberta fire evacuees, first in Edmonton in May and then again in Calgary in June and July. 

“This food bank hasn’t had line-ups for more than a decade.” Arianna Johnson, executive director at the Wood Buffalo Food Bank in Fort McMurray, says the wildfires changed that. Since it reopened in early June, staff members have prepared and handed out 150 hampers a day, a significant increase from last year.