THUNDER BAY – There are 157 empty cots set up at the Fort William Gardens.
No one had walked into the evacuation centre to register yet when Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Response Jill Dunlop were there Saturday, she told reporters at a Toronto press conference Monday.
Monday afternoon, Newswatch was informed by site commander Jason Kay, with the Loomex Group, that evacuees have still not registered at the building.
He said that, at the moment, the facility isn’t required to be filled, but it’s open to all evacuees affected by wildfires.
The evacuation centre was set up for the Namaygoosisagagun (Collins) First Nation and Armstrong evacuees, Dunlop said.
Those communities evacuated on Monday, July 13, but the site wasn’t ready until Friday.
“I think a lot of people from those communities seek shelter with family and relatives, etc. They were smaller areas, but it’s there for that intent or for anyone else,” she said.
“The Loomex Group, the province of Ontario, is here to provide the necessary shelter for people. So, we’d like people to know that this facility is open and operational with the assistance of the Red Cross, and they just need to come and register, and we can get through that process and house them,” Kay said.
The Red Cross has set up the cots in the rink area, and there is more capacity if needed.
Food, water, medical and hygiene supplies, including diapers and baby formula, are available next door in the Fort William Curling Club area.
Kay also said they have plenty of pet supplies and the centre can house animals for an extended period of time.
Thunder Bay fire chief Dave Tarini said there might be some mixed messaging and confusion among evacuees as the arena was selected to be a temporary shelter in case the airport had any issues getting people to their destination.
“We’re moving a lot of people from far north communities, and as they come through the Thunder Bay International Airport, they are staged there. Their destination is quite often to locations in southern Ontario where we can keep communities all together under one roof and one hotel setting,” Tarini said.
“So, we have to be prepared to have backup locations should flight crew availability be limited or we run into a mechanical failure with a larger aircraft. We don’t want anyone to be stranded unnecessarily here in the city, so we set up some of these centres to be available as a last resort to support in that type of setting.”
It’s the province’s emergency response plan and the municipality’s role, Tarini said, is to have space available for evacuees, while the Loomex Group, the Canadian Red Cross and the Ontario Corps manage the facilities and support evacuees.
“There’s usually not a lot of space at any of the hotels that’s readily available, so we’re trying to secure this available space when we can, but otherwise we’re leaving it to our provincial partners,” he said.
Tarini advises the local residents to get the most up-to-date and accurate information through the city’s website and provincial websites such as the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness and Response.
Once onsite, evacuees can use a QR code to register and for those without mobile phones, there are paper copies available, he said.
