News
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit Slave Lake, Alberta on their tour of Canada
6th July 2011
Survivors of a devastating wildfire which tore through a Canadian town were comforted today by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
Their Royal Highnesses made an unscheduled stop during their tour of North America to visit Slave Lake, Alberta to see for themselves the damage wrought on the settlement.
The royal couple had a private meeting with families affected by the disaster who are still reeling from the loss of their homes and livelihoods.
More than a third of the town was razed to the ground when it was hit by a wildfire on 15th May.
There were no deaths in the settlement, named after the First Nations People called Slavey who live in the area.
But the damage was extensive and forced the complete evacuation of Slave Lake's 7,000 residents - the largest displacement in the province's history.
The inferno began as a forest fire nine miles outside town and fire fighters had thought they were winning the fight but the wind turned violent and gusts of up to 62 miles an hour whipped glowing embers into the air and on to homes and businesses which quickly ignited.
Most of the destruction happened in the south-eastern section of town - where half the homes were consumed by flames - as well as the mall, town hall and many central businesses.
The Duke and Duchess flew into the town today on a government Challenger jet.
The request to tour the devastated town came directly from the royal couple, said Kevin MacLeod, Canadian secretary to The Queen, but it was kept secret until the last minute to ensure their presence would not disrupt any relief efforts in the region.
Commenting on why the visit was not announced with the rest of the tour schedule he said: "Their overwhelming concern was that they did not want a public announcement early on for fear that it would somehow detract from those people who are now putting in place all the reconstruction efforts."
The Duke has made a point of visiting disaster torn regions in the Commonwealth, notably Christchurch, New Zealand, hit by an earthquake in February, and bushfire ravaged areas of Australia in January last year.
The Duke and Duchess spent an hour and a half touring areas of the town which were affected by the fire and visited Northern Lakes College, where they met emergency services personnel from the fire brigade, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the medical response team.
During the visit the couple were taken to a section of the town where 80% of the devastation - including the loss of 400 homes - had occurred.
Charred remains of family homes - complete with the twisted wreckage of gazebos, BBQs, boats and cars - littered the neighbourhood.
The pair looked visibly moved as they walked through the dust-covered remains, stopping to examine what had been a family saloon car.
After 20 minutes they were driven to the Northern Lakes College, which was undamaged, to meet privately with some of the fire fighters who helped tackle the blaze.
Yesterday the Canadian authorities said the fire was the second largest natural disaster in the country's history with losses of 750 million dollars.
Inside the college the couple met some of the families who had lost their homes including Janet Parks, who is originally from Yorkshire but has lived in Slave Lake for 29 years.
She said: "The Duchess said she couldn't believe the devastation, especially the sight of all the twisted metal which would have been cars. She said that flames must have been intense."
Tomorrow, The Duke and Duchess will arrive in Calgary, Alberta, to continue their tour of Canada.