Kelowna, British Columbia, was once again hit by devastating forest fires over the weekend, affecting the Glenrosa and Rose Valley areas.

  The area experienced a similar situation in 2003 where 200 homes were lost.  Thousands of families, including many Telecommunications Workers Union (TWU) members, have been evacuated or are on evacuation notice.  So far, 11,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes with another 6,000 on alert with only an hour’s or less notice.

TELUS has announced that it will be flying donated toiletries to the affected families and matching any cash donations.  The TWU encourages all members to help in any way they can.  People are encouraged to drop off donated material at the following locations:

* 555 Robson, Downtown Vancouver
* 3777 Kingsway in Burnaby
* 1648 Salton Road in Abbotsford

“Our hearts go out to the people of Kelowna.  This is an awful situation for everyone and really hits home for us since it has also impacted many of our own TWU members.  TWU members are thinking of them and helping where they can,” added acting president, Betty Carrasco.