EDMONTON — The Red Cross is providing an immediate payment of $50 million to evacuees of the Fort McMurray forest fire.
CEO Conrad Sauve says each adult is to receive $600 and each child will get $300.
Sauve says the money is to be electronically transferred to evacuees within the next 24 to 48 hours.
He says giving evacuees cash lets them decide how best to spend the money for their immediate needs.
Sauve says $67 million has so far been donated to the Red Cross and much of that will be matched by the provincial and federal governments.
