Red Lake Mayor Fred Mota
The Municipality of Red Lake remains on edge and in a holding pattern as two nearby forest fires threaten to merge.
The fires are burning just west of Madsen and Starret-Olsen and if combined the total size would be 150,000 hectares.
Mayor Fred Mota says the order hasn’t been given but they are prepared to evacuate the community.
Some residents have voluntary left already.
Mota says, “The fire changes every hour, depending on wind speed, weather, all sorts of different factors. When I was speaking with the MNRF earlier in the week, this fire, the magnitude of it to put it in perspective, is burning 40 metres every minute.”
He stresses, “It’s a very serious fire. It’s becoming a larger fire. Of course, we’ve been dealing with smoke conditions here in Red Lake. Our nursing home has taken it upon themselves to evacuate the area. So, residents from our nursing home went to Dryden and Kenora.”
Mota adds, “I know the hospital is preparing to move some of the vulnerable patients and we’re working with all community partners in prepatory of an evacuation.”
He notes, “I’ve been speaking with mayors in different communities who are willing to host Red Lake residents if the need to evacuate is going to occur and I just like to thank everybody involved district wide.”
Sprinklers have been set up around priority buildings and other property throughout the community.
Mota says emergency officials learned a lot from last year’s sudden fire evacuation, when they only had about three hours to prepare.
To hear more from Red Lake Mayor Fred Mota, visit the Audio link below:
Here are a few things you can do to prepare for any emergency, including storms and evacuations:
-Create and keep an emergency kit containing
-Two litres of drinking water for each person in your household
-A 72 hour supply of non-perishable food that can be eaten uncooked, along with utensils to open and eat them like can openers and cutlery
-Any special need items like diapers and formula
-Toilet paper
-A week’s supply of prescription medications and over-the-counter medications
-Sleeping bags
-At least one change of clothing
-Personal hygiene products
-Flashlights and extra batteries
-A battery operated radio to receive news updates if internet connections aren’t available
-At least $100 cash, in small bills
-A fully charged battery bank for recharging cell phones/mobile devices
-Keep important documents (passports, birth certificates, status cards, health cards, etc) somewhere they can be picked up and taken with you quickly
-Determine an out of town contact you can call for temporary shelter
-Make sure your vehicle’s gas tank at least half full. In the event of an emergency mass evacuation, line-ups for gas may be long, or refuelling may not even be possible
More tips can be found at Emergency Evacuation Tips
