Fire fighting duo remain in hospital, GoFundMe page started

While most people were evacuated on Tuesday, Ron and Evan Wedrick stepped in to help battle the blaze.

The father and son duo from Tompkins, Sask. were helping fight the fire near their town when they were surrounded by flames and received critical burns.

Ron, 43, and Evan, 25, were transported to a hospital in Medicine Hat, Alta. and then transferred to Calgary Foothills Hospital where the pair remain.

Family friend, Kalie Migneault, wanted to help out any way she could so she set up a GoFundMe page.

“Just so they can pay for their hotel, pay for their cost of living,” she said. “Pay for their mortgages and everything back at home because obviously both of the guys aren’t working right now and life doesn’t stop — neither do the bills.”

Migneault said she was shocked at how fast the page started to grow, but it makes sense because the pair were well-known in the small town community.

“They were just great people,” she said. “Not only do they work with their oil company, they were also kinda rancher people so they know so many people in the community and they were always the first people to come and help.”

She went on to say that it’s heartwarming to know that people, even random strangers, have reached out and donated.

“Especially with everything else going on in the world, when something like this does happen and you see everyone come together and humanity kind of win you think, ‘Yes!’ there is good in the world,” she said.

In less than 24 hours the page had more than $50,000 in donations.

Another GoFundMe campaign is collecting money for the family of 34-year-old firefighter James Hargrave from Walsh, Alberta who died in a crash while battling the fire near Burstall.