Canada coming together to support CFB Wainwright fire survivors and families

Canadians from coast to coast are answering the call to support those impacted by the deadly wildfire which tore through CFB Wainwright over the weekend.

Legacy Place Society announced on Sunday they are receiving multiple requests for housing assistance beyond its current capacity and has reached out to Albertans in Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer for anyone willing to help out. So far more than 800 households have answered the call.

“It’s relatively quiet right now because the individuals are in the intensive care unit and can’t really see visitors,” said executive director Diana Festejo. “But we anticipate that to evolve as they start to rehabilitate in their health journey.

“But we have an outpouring of people asking what they can do — different things like coffee cards are always helpful too.”

Legacy Place Society provides transitional housing and other supports for veterans, first responders and their families as they navigate personal emergencies. Since 2001, the society has had 67,033 nightly stays in its locations in Edmonton, Calgary and Red Deer. Support has been outpouring since Festejo first put out the call and she said the society would likely be removing its social media post later in the day.

Festejo said while the society currently appears to have accommodations for survivors and their families figured out, there are plenty of other ways people can support them, either through donations or even just sending a “get well card.”

“We can pass them on to the patients,” said Festejo. “If someone’s in the hospital, the parents can read those out and say, ‘This is what Canadians are saying to you.'”

Canadian Blood Services is putting out a call for donations, noting donations will not only help the survivors of the weekend incident but also help servicemen and women injured in the line of duty across the military.

Donating blood takes approximately an hour and appointments can be made either by phoning 1-888-236-6283 or online through blood.ca. Walk-in appointments are also accepted.

“It’s a pretty difficult time for the families,” said Festejo. “Until you’re in it, it’s really hard to know how to deal with it — and then when you’re in it, how do you deal with it? There’s so many variables and emotions, no one expects this.

“This is a special situation and Canadians are stepping up and asking, ‘How we can help?'”

Blankets of Love founder Sheila Ethier said she is partnering with Quilts of Valour to help collect blankets and quilts for the survivors and their families.

She said anyone interested in helping out can reach out to her at sethier@blanketsoflove.ca or contact one of the many Alberta representatives with Quilts of Valour.

“Everybody wants to help and everybody is trying to make plans to make that happen,” she said. “We’re all still in shock over what happened.”

Four people died and 39 more were severely injured when high wind moved a wildfire an entire kilometre in less than 60 seconds — a weather phenomenon experts say they’ve never seen before — into the middle of a live-ammunition training exercise.

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