Sandy Lake First Nation evacuations continue as major wildfire burns nearby
CBC
Hundreds of members of Sandy Lake First Nation have left the remote Oji-Cree community as a major wildfire burns nearby.
The evacuation was ordered on Saturday due to the fire known as Red Lake 12. As of Monday, the fire was more than 156,000 hectares in size and not under control.
"We're all scared that our community might burn down," said Sandy Lake member Dakota Fiddler during a stopover at the Thunder Bay airport. "I'm scared too, because I have family there."
Thunder Bay is acting as a hub for the evacuation, with Sandy Lake members stopping in the city on the way to host cities elsewhere in the province.
The Canadian military is assisting with the evacuations.
Racheal Anishinabie, manager of Sandy Lake's Mamow Weechiwayin Program, said she and her team have been assisting with the evacuations, as well.
"We've actually been helping with Ontario, they're just really short-handed," she said. "So we just pitched in."
"What we've been doing is just a lot of collaborating with them, getting people on and off planes, and also taking them to the university hotels," she said. "Some of them have been staying overnight and then they're heading down south to Toronto, Mississauga, Ottawa, Cornwall, all those places."
"We've just been supporting that way," Anishinabie said. "We've been feeding them, getting them coffee, taking them for medical assistance."
Anishinabie said it's important that evacuees get supports from fellow Sandy Lake members.
"A lot of our people have anxiety," she said. "They left our community and they see … a fire right behind the community."
"It's really traumatizing for the kids, the adults, the youth, our elders, because that's our home."
Red Lake 12 also prompted the evacuation of Deer Lake First Nation last week.
"This fire sort of originated quite close to (Deer Lake), so their protections are a little more advanced in terms of what fire suppression has happened around that community, and the structural protection," said Chris Marchand, fire information officer with Ontario's Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services.
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