Calgary reception centre to remain open for 48 hours to support wildfire evacuees

Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says the city's reception centre for Jasper wildfire evacuees will remain open for the next 48 hours.

The mayor made the announcement on Thursday, following some confusion over the centre's hours the day before.

The situation saw some evacuees turn up only to find the building closed.

"Last night, when I heard that some evacuees came to our city but did not get the normal warm Calgary welcome, I immediately reached out to Chief Sue Henry to understand the situation," the mayor said.

"She was already aware of what had happened, and quickly reopened the reception centre.”

The mayor said the reception centre was only closed for "about 20 minutes."

"To those evacuees who did not immediately receive assistance, I apologize sincerely. I can only imagine what it must have been like to have to rapidly evacuate and then drive 12 to 15 hours to show up here and be met with closed doors," Gondek said.

"I can understand that it would have been heartbreaking."

Gondek said the reception centre will "remain open for the next 48 hours."

• Sign up for breaking news alerts from CTV News, right at your fingertips
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Henry, chief of the Calgary Emergency Management Agency (CEMA), explained the mix up, saying the centre closed briefly at 5 p.m. 

"We had a brief period of time where folks would have seen (a sign on) the door saying the reception centre 'is closed.' Our staff immediately became aware that people were in the parking lot; they went and opened the door to allow them in.

"Those people were coming in until about 10:15 p.m., when our folks left."

Henry said Tuesday night, the reception centre had seen "nearly zero" overnight visitors, so the decision was made to close overnight on Wednesday. 

However, with the fire reaching the Jasper townsite on Wednesday evening, officials then decided to reopen to overnight travellers.

As such, the reception centre reopened, again, at 11 p.m. on Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, Calgary has 465 evacuees that have registered and been accommodated through the reception centre, Henry said.

The reception centre is located at the Shouldice Arena (1515 Home Road N.W.)

The mayor said though the generosity of Calgarians is appreciated, people are asked to not bring any donations to the reception centre.

Instead, people are being asked to email [e-mail].

Canada Task Force 2 deployed

Henry said that Canada Task Force 2 (CAN-TF2) has been deployed to help assist Jasper.

"Last night, the call for help came from the Alberta Emergency Alert Management Agency (AEMA), and we are answering.

"Canada Task Force 2 has deployed 19 personnel in support of the wildfires in Jasper at the request of the AEMA."

The diverse team includes emergency managers, paramedics, firefighters, fire chiefs and police officers

Henry says the team will be working around the clock, in a day shift and night shift.

CAN-TF2 is an all-hazards disaster response team, based out of Calgary.

Though the task force works as a partnership between the City of Calgary, Province of Alberta and Government of Canada, it is owned and operated by the City of Calgary.

"We have also sent CEMA's mobile command centre, which can function as a mobile work space.”

Parachutes for Pets offers help

Officials with Calgary charity Parachutes for Pets are offering assistance to evacuees.

Those who have fled Jasper and arrived in Calgary can call the organization's Angel Team line at [phone] for help, including the delivery of pet hampers and supplies, animal safekeeping and vet care for those suffering from the smoke and heat.

For more information, visit ParachutesForPets.com. 

Friday update

On Friday, the City of Calgary released an update saying as of July 26 at 9 a.m., 960 evacuees had registered at the Calgary reception centre.