Volunteers wanted: Red Cross aims to grow to handle larger scale disasters

The P.E.I. branch of the Canadian Red Cross is trying to double the size of its disaster management team.

There are currently about 40 volunteers on the team. They do things like emergency planning and helping families get settled after house fires.

But the local Red Cross is concerned that team could be overwhelmed by a larger scale disaster. Laura Johnson-Montigny, provincial director of the Canadian Red Cross, said the wildfire in Fort McMurray made staff realize more volunteers were needed.

"Having just responded to our largest fire, the Alberta fires, with 125 clients returning to P.E.I., we certainly saw that our team does need to expand and to really be prepared for those kinds of larger scale responses," said Johnson-Montigny.

The goal is to get volunteers from communities throughout the province, she said.

With extra training, the volunteers could also have the opportunity to respond to emergencies out of province.

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