The Red Lake forest fire happened extremely quickly and residents had little time to react.
That’s the feeling of resident Terri Hamilton who was one of thousands who fled the community late Monday.
Hamilton saw the fire grow while working at the Evolution mine site.
“The winds that day were so crazy. I never thought it would happen because I thought it would be safer, where we seen the fire going, I thought it would be safer if we were there. I guess with that wind and things changing they felt it safer if we left.”
Hamilton notes “About 9:15 that they wanted everybody to evacuate that night. Got everything together, packed up what we could, and I was able to do it within, just before 10:00, so I thought that was pretty good, you know a half hour to get everybody all packed.”
Hamilton says she was able to get her three cats and one dog as well as family to safety.
In terms of the response to the emergency by municipal officials in Red Lake.
“Very well organized. There was no panic. Everybody was patient waiting in line because it took almost two, two-and-a-half hours just to get to Ear Falls, which normally is about a 30-45 minute drive.”
Hamilton adds “It was well organized. Everybody did their job. The Ear Falls Fire Department, they were taking names and keeping things going in Ear Falls. And then all of the volunteers in the Red Lake area. It was awesome!”
Hamilton say it almost seemed like everyone had practice but didn’t.
She is thanking all volunteers, community members and CKDR for their work during the emergency.
“There’s some people that are staying behind that are offering support, like checking on pets, because there were some people that didn’t take their pet. So there going around feeding them, checking on them, which is very appreciated. Just keeping us up to date.”
