Remote northern Ontario Cree community to get fire truck following girl's death
CBC
A remote northern Ontario Cree community expects to receive a fire truck in the next week. It will arrive two months after a child died in a fire.
In late January, a 10-year-old girl in the community of Peawanuck died in a house fire. At the time, the community of around 200 people near the Hudson Bay coast didn't have access to fire services or basic firefighting equipment.
Sam Hunter, a councillor with Weenusk First Nation, which includes Peawanuck, said the fire truck has been ready for around a week, and they are just waiting for the winter road to the community to be ready so the vehicle can be driven from Winnipeg to the community.
"We'll feel a lot safer having a fire truck that big, that will contain enough water to be able to put out a fire, especially with the size of the houses that we have there under 1,000 square feet," Hunter said.
Hunter said the small community has never had sufficient resources to deal with house fires.
In 1995, he lost his two sons to a fire.
"There could have been a chance to save my boys. We had time," he said.
"If there are going to be any future incidents, it means a lot to me and to the community."
Hunter said the community will have to park the fire truck in a vacant warehouse for at least the next year.
The community plans to build a proper fire hall, but still needs to bring in engineers to sign off on the structure they have planned.
"Sometimes a temporary thing becomes something that's going to be used for a long time," Hunter said.
"We just don't want that to happen."
In the meantime, Hunter said the community plans for four people to get immediate training on how to use the fire truck, so they can start using it right away.
Winnipeg-based Fort Garry Fire Trucks built the fire pumper, and plans for one of their drivers to deliver it to the community. That driver will also train local volunteers how to use it.
A third-party review of the use of dogs in medical research at London's Lawson Research Institute found that the testing, which induced heart attacks in the dogs, complied with all "regulatory, ethical and professional standards."
A Calgary-based outreach team that's trained to respond to overdoses in the city's inner-city Beltline neighbourhood, will see its hours slashed by Recovery Alberta so it will no longer operate overnight.
What happens in one community in northeast B.C. is always felt by all, says Peace River Regional District chair Brad Sperling.
School is out again on the northeast Avalon, as the region continues to dig out from this winter’s biggest storm.
Wikwemikong Tribal Police Servce (WTPS) said a drop in the number of charges against teens last year, particularly boys, is an encouraging sign that early intervention programs are working.
Christian Herridge’s life has not been easy.
Ken Stannix saw a community in economic decline when he retired from a career in the military and moved home to McAdam in 2012.
When Alexe Frédéric Migneault suddenly began experiencing hair loss, they thought a haircut would be just the thing to help them feel confident again.
Members of the Métis Nation—Saskatchewan (MN-S) who had come to rely on a mental health and addictions support program say the organization should have done more to prepare for the end of federal funding that will force it to close next month.
Islanders applying for or renewing their Prince Edward Island health card after April 1 will see a new optional question about their race or ethnicity.
This winter's lack of snow and mild conditions have impacted the economics of the skiing and biking industry in B.C.'s Interior.
In this city-run seniors' building, Hamilton residents say needles, urine, feces are only steps away
When Rose Hamilton stepped into the stairwell of her apartment building one evening in January, it wasn’t the first time she says she encountered a puddle of urine and feces.
Democrats in Washington are expanding their probe into the circumstances around U.S. President Donald Trump's recent threat to block the opening of the new Gordie Howe bridge connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit.