Amid the catastrophic wild fires that have plunged northern Alberta into chaos, London is helping to provide a little cooling relief.

Labatt Breweries has shipped 200,000 cans of London water to the fire-ravaged Fort McMurray region of Alberta, to help residents forced to flee the oilsands capital and nearby areas, hard-hit by fire that has destroyed more than 1,500 structures and forced nearly 90,000 people to leave the region.

London-based Libro Credit Union announced Friday it’s donating $10,000 to the Canadian Red Cross in relief efforts.

Other London companies have also begun campaigns to help the victims of the fires.

“It has been gut-wrenching to watch, overwhelming,” Jeff Ryan, senior director corporate affairs for Labatt, said Friday of the fires.

The water shipped from London was delivered to the Northlands Centre in Edmonton earlier this week.

Labatt cans water and st ores it throughout the year, and ships it where needed at times of emergency, said Ryan.

“It is logical for us to go from beer and divert London water into cans, it is easy for us to do,” he said.

So far, 68,000 of the 200,000 cans have been handed out, he added.

Libro, with offices across Southwestern Ontario, urged all Canadians to give to the Alberta relief effort, noting the federal government will match individual donations.

“At Libro, our passion for supporting communities means standing together in times like these,” said Stephen Bolton, Libro’s chief executive.

“We encourage others to show their support and contribute to the Canadian Red Cross,” he said.

More than $11 million has already been donated to the Red Cross, he added.

Other ways to help

Canadian Red Cross: Accepting financial donations through its website, redcross.ca; a $5 donation can also be made by texting REDCROSS to 30333.

Salvation Army: Collecting financial donations online at salvationarmy.ca; it says it will provide food, clothing and shelter, among its emergency services.