Late-night fire causes “significant” damage to Wood Buffalo Food Bank
Posted Aug 22, 2016 9:49 pm.
Last Updated Aug 22, 2016 9:52 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A major setback for the Wood Buffalo Food Bank (WBFB) following a late-night fire in Fort McMurray.
In a statement, the organization says the fire started sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday night at a building on Manning Avenue, where the food bank has around 3,000 square feet of extra storage space.
Smoke from the flames forced the WBFB to throw away food items, food storage containers, diapers, toilet paper, and other goods, meaning there are now fewer supplies available for those who rely on the organization.
At this time, there is no official estimate on how much was destroyed by the flames, but the organization says damage was significant.
The fire has also pushed back the distribution of the Mobile Pantry Program hampers to at least one rural community by at least two days.
Arianna Johnson, executive director of the food bank, calls the situation “heartbreaking,” but says the organization will get through it.
“We will again band together and clean this up and move forward with the amazing support of our community because we are and forever will be – YMM Strong,” Johnson said in the statement.
This comes just months after food bank was forced to dispose of 53,257 possibly contaminated food items following the wildfire.
