Hope shines in tragedy

Ever since I heard about the evacuation of Slave Lake on Twitter on Sunday night, I've been keeping a close eye on this incident. I can't imagine what the residents of Slave Lake might be feeling right now. It must be horrible, especially if your house was in the 40% of the town that burned down. But not only did many residents lose their homes, much of the town's institutions and businesses were also destroyed. For Alberta, I have never seen such a large portion of such a large town destroyed. Slave Lake is the major centre for a large area in Northern Alberta, the large scale destruction in the area is going to have wide ranging economic effects for this region.

I want to give credit where credit is due. Over 7000 people were evacuated in a very short period of time with no fatalities or injuries. This fact makes me very proud to be Albertan. Our emergency response plan works. Now, I'm sure the evacuation was chaotic and better decisions could have been made in the moment, but given the sure speed of the fire and the prevailing weather conditions, the fact that so many people got in such a short period of time is a major accomplishment on the part of our emergency services personnell. When they finish fighting the fires and everything else that needs to be done in order to make the town even semi-habital - take off your hats and take a bow. You make this province proud.

Albertans have opened their hearts. This doesn't come as a surprise, Albertans (and by extension Canadians, and indeed human beings) always give what they can in disasters. Since the disaster is so close to home opens up their hearts and wallets even further. Emergency centres have asked people to hold off on their in-kind donations until they can better assess what Albertans need. Already major fundraising drives are being undertaken by radio stations and the internet.

To lose everything must be very hard. Fortunately, many people did have insurance and the province is already talking about compensation for those that don't. It won't be quite the same as before the fire, but at least there will be something. It will take time for these things to put in place of course, but you can count on the generosity of Albertans and the best efforts of politicians and bureacrats to ensure that the money is flowing as quick as it can.

I don't think Alberta has seen such devastation in its modern history, but large scale fires are fairly common in human history. Humans have a tenacity that drives them to rebuild bigger and better. As human beings, we unite in tragedy. I hope the immediate needs of Slave Lake residents are met, and then when everything is ready, we can work together to rebuild Slave Lake.