London South Collegiate struck by lightning
London Watch
Officials with London fire say a graduation ceremony at London South Collegiate ended abruptly when lightning struck the school's chimney.
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The high cost of hosting wildfire evacuees
For the past six summers, High Level, Alta., a northern town of 4,000 that straddles the only road into the province from the Northwest Territories, has converted its arena into a makeshift wildfire evacuation centre. Municipal staff have been diverted from regular duties such as working at the pool or running summer programs to haul up to 350 cots, purchased by the town to accommodate evacuees, from a storage container into the arena. They have sometimes worked up to 17 hours a day to make sure everyone was fed and children were entertained. That work is not continuing this summer. In late May, as out-of-control wildfires burned in Central and Western Canada, the town issued a public notice advising it would not be hosting evacuees in its arena. Crystal McAteer, the long-time mayor of High Level, said the decision not to reopen the evacuation centre was made 'with a heavy heart,' but that the strain on the town's staff and finances had become too great. 'As the wildfires become more frequent and more severe, it's demanding more and more time of our very limited people resources,' said Ms. McAteer. She said the town has struggled in past years to recoup costs associated with hosting evacuees from higher levels of government. In 2024, High Level spent $1.4-million – the equivalent of more than 10 per cent of its budget – and is still waiting to be repaid. 'For a municipality the size of High Level, we just can't afford that,' Ms. McAteer said. As the frequency and severity of wildfires are predicted to intensify, High Level's experience highlights the challenge facing municipalities playing a vital role in Canada's response. Experts say some may not be able to shoulder the burden of hosting evacuees without more support from governments. 'I think this is a growing problem,' said Jack Rozdilsky, an associate professor of disaster and emergency management at York University who has studied support for wildfire evacuees. He said that while the front-end of evacuations – the removal of people from immediate danger – has become more streamlined, 'we still have some work to do to figure out the back-end.' The responsibility for managing wildfire evacuations rests primarily with provincial and territorial governments, which offer funding for food and accommodation. Costs for First Nations people who ordinarily live on reserve are covered by the federal government. Across the country, however, there is a patchwork of policies that dictate how municipalities are repaid. In Alberta, those that host wildfire evacuees are generally reimbursed by the community whose residents were displaced. The displaced community, in turn, applies to the province to recoup those costs, according to Arthur Green, press secretary for Alberta's Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services. Mr. Green did not directly address questions about High Level. Ms. McAteer said the town is awaiting reimbursement from the federal government because the communities it hosted last year included two First Nations. Jennifer Cooper, a spokeswoman for Indigenous Services Canada, said Little Red River Cree Nation and the Dene Tha' First Nation are still finalizing their claims with the government. She said the government provided emergency payments to the First Nations following the evacuation, but would not disclose the amount. Little Red River Cree Nation and the Dene Tha' First Nation did not respond to a request for comment. In Whitecourt, Alta., a town of nearly 10,000, mayor Tom Pickard said he empathizes with smaller communities such as High Level whose population may double during wildfire season. Whitecourt has hosted evacuees for the past several years, but doesn't need to run a dedicated centre because it has enough hotel capacity, he said. While it can take some time to be reimbursed for hosting-related expenses, he said it doesn't create hardship for his town. 'We maybe haven't been inundated like High Level. If we were getting 10,000 people every year into our community of 10,000, I think we would be overwhelmed if we did it too often,' Mr. Pickard said. The model in Alberta differs from some other provinces and territories. British Columbia, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories compensate host communities directly for expenses, spokespeople for the provincial and territorial departments said. Some eastern provinces have standing agreements with the Canadian Red Cross. Leianne Musselman, a spokesperson for the organization, said it is prepared to provide support to all communities but pre-existing agreements 'allow communities and the Red Cross to plan ahead' and have clear roles and responsibilities. The process went relatively smoothly in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, N.L., in 2024, when the town of 8,000 welcomed about 4,000 wildfire evacuees from Labrador City. Brad Butler, the town's director of protective services, said the community helped co-ordinate logistics with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army to care for and feed evacuees. The province then reimbursed the town for things such as cases of water and overtime pay for municipal staff within the calendar year, Mr. Butler said. In High Level, Ms. McAteer said the town especially felt the strain in 2023, when Canada faced the most destructive wildfires on record and many communities in the Northwest Territories, including Yellowknife, were evacuated. At times, the town ballooned by as many as 7,000 people. The mayor said she's long been advocating for a purpose-built evacuation centre. A building with centralized services could reduce the number of staff required, Ms. McAteer said, and could be used as a multiplex and for classrooms during the off-season. 'I feel that the provincial government doesn't understand how unique High Level is positioned to help everybody,' said Ms. McAteer. With increased support from the provincial and federal governments for infrastructure, staff and counsellors, an evacuation centre could run 'like clockwork,' she said. 'We have done it so often. We know how to do it.'
