Feeding the Frontlines: Salvation Army Serves Over 10,000 Meals During Alberta Wildfire Response

After 42 days, The Salvation Army’s Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) has wrapped up its latest Alberta wildfire response in Jasper and Hinton.

During the six-week operation, EDS served meals to evacuees, firefighters, RCMP officers, and other first responders involved in the wildfire response. In total, 10,871 meals, 11,593 drinks, and 15,416 snacks were served over a combined 2,868 hours worked by EDS team members.

“Our team has been excellent. They’ve gone over and above,” Major Ben Lippers, Divisional Director of Emergency Disaster Services for the Prairies and Northern Territories Division, said. “They’re running around the clock. I love the team that I have, and we’ll continue doing the best we can.”

Deployment Timeline

EDS was first deployed to High Level, AB, on July 23 to feed 600 wildfire evacuees from three communities from the Little Red River Cree Nation (Fox Lake, Jean d’Or Prairie, and Garden River).

The next day, July 24, a second EDS team arrived in Hinton, AB, approximately one hour from the Jasper townsite, and began serving three meals a day to 200-350 RCMP members assisting with the wildfire response inside Jasper National Park.

After six days in High Level, EDS’s services were no longer required. However, while driving home, the team received a request to reroute directly to the Jasper townsite 13 hours away (due to road closures caused by fires). They arrived in Jasper during the early hours of July 29, took a brief rest, and then began preparing breakfast for over 550 firefighters and other first responders.

The unexpected request came with some challenges, but the team adapted quickly.

“It’s taken us a little time to get all the products that we like to have on-site because we were coming out empty from (High Level),” Major Lippers said while in Jasper.

“We were going into the corner stores (for groceries) …we made do until we could get everything we needed.”

The next day, a new EDS team from Manitoba arrived to relieve the first team in Jasper. Meanwhile, in Hinton, EDS wrapped up their operation and headed home.

On Aug 4, the crew in Jasper exited the town for safety concerns related to smoke and moved its operation to Hinton’s Alliance Church parking lot. From there, they were no longer feeding firefighters and instead were asked to feed evacuees in Hinton and Edson.

EDS continued feeding evacuees until Sept 3.

Boots on the ground

The deployment’s success was made possible by the dedication of the EDS team and volunteers. They came from all over the prairies and put their lives on hold for two weeks at a time to work grueling hours in the heat for a cause bigger than themselves.

“For me, it’s the passion of helping someone. It’s my ministry,” EDS Incident Commander Debbie Clarke said. “It gives me the drive that I need just to, and I get emotional when I think of it, just to know that we’ve done something for someone, just to make their life a little bit better, you know? Just shed that tiny bit of light in a very dark situation. Sometimes it gives you the strength to go on.”

Feeding hundreds of people all day isn’t just a physical grind—the environment can also take an emotional toll on EDS team members. In addition to providing meals, they’re also on the scene to provide emotional and spiritual care when asked, and many of the people they’re helping have just experienced something traumatic.

“I always tell people…It’s about the ministry of presence,” Clarke said. “So, you need to be present when somebody is talking to you. Listen to what they’re saying, listen to what they’re not saying, and what their body languages may be saying. You’re not going to fix everything, but you can probably just give a little bit of hope.”

What’s on the EDS menu?

Because EDS was feeding first responders who work hard for long hours every day, they prioritized cooking hearty meals that kept them full for long periods.

In general, breakfast was served at 7 a.m., supper at 7 p.m., and bagged lunches were prepared so the firefighters didn’t need to come back into Jasper for a lunch break. Meals included:

Breakfast

• Bacon
• Breakfast sandwiches
• Breakfast burritos
• French toast
• Hashbrowns
• Sausage
• Scrambled eggs
• Waffles
• With a side: Fruit, granola bars, juice boxes

Lunch/Supper

• Chicken cordon bleu
• Chicken souvlaki
• Chicken strips
• Garlic toast
• Honey glazed carrots
• Nachos
• Spaghetti and meatballs
• Pork skewers
• Ribs
• Rice
• Stuffed potatoes
• Tacos
• Vegetables

Bagged Lunch

• Bag of chips
• Beef jerky
• Chicken cordon bleu sandwiches
• Chocolate
• Power bars
• Sandwiches/Wraps: Ham, turkey, roast beef, and veggie
• Sports drinks

If a person had dietary restrictions, they just needed to tell EDS, and they’d accommodate them.

What kind of equipment does EDS bring to a disaster response?

Cooking for over 500 hungry firefighters is no small operation. While in Jasper, EDS’s equipment consisted of:

• A 36-foot kitchen trailer
• A freezer trailer
• Two refrigeration trucks
• A Five-ton refrigeration truck
• A Cargo trailer
• Two pickup trucks

Rapid Response Bunkhouse

The Rapid Response Bunk House was a welcomed addition for EDS this wildfire season. In the spring, the Salvation Army’s annual Supreme Golf Classic tournament successfully raised $266,350 for the bunkhouse and tow vehicle.

An inconvenience for EDS in the past has been finding accommodations near the site where they’ve been deployed. This inconvenience can add hours of additional travel time each day. Thanks to the bunk house, which has eight rooms, two bathrooms, a refrigerator, and washing machines for laundry, EDS could stay within close range to their work.

“We’d normally be in a tent or finding someone who can house us or getting hotel rooms in Hinton and driving in here daily to start up the kitchen at 5 a.m.,” Major Lippers said. “The bunkhouse is a game-changer in circumstances like this because we can house our crew wherever we are needed.”

Donations for The Salvation Army’s Wildfire Emergency Relief can be made by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY or online at SalvationArmy.ca/Wildfires.