Nova Scotia high school reaches out to displaced Fort Mac school members
'Students and staff and their families are scattered across Canada and most have lost everything'
A Cambridge, N.S., high school is adopting the families of students and staff at a Fort McMurray high school, raising money to help the school's evacuees.
Central Kings Rural High School recently reached out to the school community in the devastated northern Alberta city.
"I want to thank the [Kings County] school and the staff, and the students in particular, who I believe have felt something personal in what they've seen on TV," Fort McMurray principal Kevin Bergen told CBC's Information Morning.
Staff at Fort McMurray Composite High School fought to prevent the approaching wildfire from destroying the building, hosing down the exterior of the building, he said. Right now, the school is still standing.
"I was able to confirm our school is intact, it's still fine. We were hosing it down before we left because the fire path was coming directly towards us," he said.
'Embers falling on us'
Bergen said school staff pulled fire hoses out of hallways and strung them out windows and onto the roof.
"We had embers falling on us, branches that were on fire and dropping on us as we were trying to hose down the school.
"We were finally told, look you have to go. Now students and staff and their families are scattered across Canada and most have lost everything."
Bergen said most of the families at the school will be struggling financially in the aftermath.
"We suggested setting up a fund that we could direct monies individually to families that I know of that are in particular need, who are very low socioeconomic families," he said.
"These are our taxi drivers, our custodians and individuals who work at Tim Hortons, those are primarily the demographic of our families. We will start a fund here at one of our banks."
Scattered all over the place
He said the school will begin to try to track down where school students and staff have landed since the fire.
"Everyone is scattered all over the place, we don't even know where 90 per cent of our people are."
Bergen said he is impressed with the outstanding leadership behind the Central Kings initiative.
"Fort McMurray residents really do feel they are supported by Canadians, and not just Albertans, but by Canadians."
With files from Ed Halverson