Railway Museum Welcomes Evacuees

PRINCE GEORGE – Nearly 3000 evacuees are registered in Prince George and roughly 1000 of them are children. The city has been opening up multiple activities to the public for free to keep children busy like swimming pools and art museums. On Sunday, the Railway and Forestry Museum opened their doors to the evacuees offering a free train ride, hot dog lunch and live music. Brenda Lukehiuk, the organizer of the event says she did it because if the roles were reversed and she was evacuated, she would hope a new community would do the same for her family. 

“This affects everybody and you know it could be us one day, we could be fleeing to Burns Lake or Quesnel or Williams Lake, we have forestry all the way around us I just think that it’s just good to show that we’re all human and that we all love each other.”

Many families came out to enjoy the day and may have felt a bit of rain, but lucked out with a nearly smoke-free day, something Prince George hasn’t seen much of in the last month. Kristi Howell and her family had to leave their home five days ago in Fort St James and she says she’s grateful the Museum is giving them and the kids something to take their minds off the fires for a while. 

“It’s been comforting knowing the kids don’t seem to be too affected right now because they are having so much fun. Knowing that they are taken care of well and enjoying themselves it makes our stay a little easier even though we’ve been checking Facebook and everything to make sure everything is good back home.”