Fire evacuee away from home 3rd time teaching others

This is not the first time Charlene Head and her family have been evacuated from their home on Red Earth First Nation.

It’s the third. Head said she knows what to expect when it comes to the shelters.

“But I can only imagine what it’s like for other communities because it’s their first time,” she said.

The previous times she was forced from her home, there was too much water. This time, fire has pushed them out.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Head and her family were living in the evacuation facility at Evraz Place, though she hoped they would be able to go back home on Thursday.

Though she said even if they are able to go home, their hearts will still be with the rest of Saskatchewan’s evacuees.
 
“This is a catastrophe, it’s serious.”

She said she and her family try to help others by teaching them what to do, what questions to ask, and what kinds of things will be supplied for them.
 
“We feel for them, because we know what it was like the first time we … we were so lost we didn’t even know what to do.”
 
Head said the chief and council on Red Earth have been doing everything they can to help the evacuees.
 
“The staff is what makes the process that we go through much more bearable.”
 
She also commended the “tremendous” support that’s come from the community.
 
“The City of Regina, they had to cancel so many of their events to have us here, and that speaks volumes the city is made of. I said, ‘No wonder the Riders live here,'” Head laughed.
 
Head has been away from her home since the beginning of last week. She said she’s lonely, but is also trying to be optimistic.

LSchick@rawlco.com
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