Carleen Wollman grew up in Portage la Prairie before moving north about five and a half years ago when her husband joined the RCMP. After spending two years in Moose Lake, they relocated to Cranberry Portage, where they chose to stay even after his initial posting ended.
They fell in love with the community and the area, deciding to extend their time there. Despite now facing evacuation for the second consecutive year, Wollman says they remain committed to their adopted home.
The trauma of evacuation
Wollman describes the emotional strain of being forced to leave her home twice, almost exactly a year apart.
“It’s definitely something that’s very hard to process,” she says. “We have four small children, so getting out was scary last year, but this year we had an idea that things were going to be dry conditions again. So we were ready. We were ready to go.”
Wollman left with her children on an eight-hour drive via Highway 6, while her husband remained behind to work. She says last year was slightly easier because her husband was on parental leave and could accompany them. This time, she made the journey alone.
“We’ve got a good family supporting us and lots of friends now that are going through this with me,” she adds. “Last year it was only our community and now it’s thousands of people.”
The vital role of support networks
Wollman emphasizes how fortunate she feels to have a place to stay in Portage with her parents and in-laws. But many others from her community and nearby reserves lack that option.
“It takes time for the province, the communities, the Red Cross, everything to organize and mobilize and get all this ready for everyone,” she says. “Someone saying ‘here’s your bed, here’s your meal,’ that is such an important thing to have for these people that don’t have the option of finding someone to stay with.”
She continues, “It’s definitely incredible work that they’re doing and I can’t imagine having to do it with this many people all at once.”
The added burden of being an RCMP family
On top of evacuation stress, Wollman also faces the fear of being separated from her husband as he remains on duty.
“Leaving someone behind and not knowing if they’re okay at all, you just have to hope you can hear from them as often as you can,” she notes.
Recently, her husband was able to visit for a few days, arriving at 4 a.m. after driving through the night. But he must soon return so his coworkers can have time with their own families.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to let him go, but he’s got to go back,” she adds.
Misinformation fuels tension
Social media has made the emotional rollercoaster even harder, Wollman explains.
“I struggle a lot as an RCMP spouse when I see people saying things like they’re not doing their jobs,” she says. “People that are trying to break the rules and go into evacuated areas are putting people like my husband at risk when you do that.”
She urges residents to follow evacuation orders and respect first responders.
“The firefighters don’t have the time to worry about us right now, which is why my husband is happy I’m here,” Wollman adds. “We’re all in this together and we want to keep everyone safe, including our frontline workers.”
A call for compassion and community
Wollman encourages anyone able to help to do so in any way they can.
“If you can help, help. Everybody here is going through something that’s going to affect us all for a very long time,” she says. “Whether that’s a donation or volunteering or just even talking to someone that’s going through this, people need to be supported.”
She remains hopeful that the community spirit will again shine when they return home.
“We did the same thing last year. We had a thank-you supper for our firefighters and we came together as a community and I know it will be like that again. I’m looking forward to that.”
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