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Reception centre moving from CNC

Prince George’s post-secondary institutions will soon be relieved from being evacuation sites so that they can fully continue their preparations for the 2017-18 academic year.

Reception Centre moving from CNC

The College of New Caledonia has been Prince George’s Emergency Reception Centre since July 8, when the current emergency involving the Cariboo wildfires began. As of Wednesday, August 9, registration and voucher renewal services will be located at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre, 808 Canada Games Way. The Salvation Army and Canadian Red Cross will also have a presence at the PGCCC to provide assistance and support to evacuees.

The hours of operation for the Emergency Reception Centre will be 8 a.m. to noon.

Group lodging at the Sport Centre

The number of evacuees requiring lodging has been gradually dwindling since evacuation orders were lifted. While the number of evacuees who registered for lodging peaked at just over 700, there remained this morning about 20 who were still under evacuation orders. These evacuees are now in commercial lodging in Prince George.

At one point, both CNC and the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre were housing evacuees. In fact, cots were installed on both the gymnasium and field house sides of the NSC, for a total of nearly 600 beds, to ensure the City would be prepared to accommodate increased numbers of evacuees, if necessary. Nevertheless, even after the lodging for evacuees was consolidated at the NSC just over a week ago, only the beds on the gym side have been used.  The removal of all of the cots, the plywood floor on the fieldhouse, and other evacuation-related services in the NSC will start next week.

“The participation and support of the College and the University have been integral to the city’s response to the needs of Cariboo residents who have been forced from their homes by the wildfires,” said Mayor Lyn Hall. “Both institutions can now get back to their core business in time for the resumption of classes. We’ve also recently removed beds that we installed in the PGSS Gym and wish to thank School District #57 for their support and assistance as well.”

The city remains active as an evacuation site related to the Cariboo wildfires and continues to host residents who are under an evacuation order.

The city is maintaining a web page with updated information about the evacuation effort: www.princegeorge.ca/CaribooEvacuation

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