Sandy Lake members 'pulling together' as wildfire evacuation continues: chief
CBC
Another northwestern Ontario First Nation is being evacuated, as a major wildfire burns nearby.
An evacuation order for Sandy Lake First Nation was issued on Saturday as Red Lake 12 burned less than two kilometres away from the remote Oji-Cree community.
The fire was initially reported on May 28. In an email to CBC News on Sunday, Chris Marchand of Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services said the fire "experienced significant growth on June 6 and 7," and is now more than 156,000 hectares in size.
"We're pulling together," Sandy Lake Chief Delores Kakegamic told CBC News on Sunday. "It's a lot of work."
"We have teams doing … everything from security to the rangers helping at the airport," she said. "Everybody's doing their part."
In an update issued Sunday, the community said it was under a phase one evacuation, focusing on its most vulnerable residents and their families.
Nine flights left the community on Sunday, and more than 1,000 people have left the community, not including those who made personal arrangements to leave.
The next step could be to continue with older children and their families, although many have left, the update says. Another update is expected on Monday.
The City of Thunder Bay, meanwhile, won't be hosting any evacuees, but is acting as an evacuation hub, Deputy Fire Chief Dave Tarini said.
That means, he said, while Thunder Bay won't be hosting any Sandy Lake members long-term, some are staying in the city briefly.
"Most of the time … there's a a private company that's been contracted by the provincial government to run the transportation hub, and that's done right out the (Thunder Bay International Airport), so they are accommodated and taken care of while they're waiting in transit," he said.
"Otherwise, we will look to some of our area hotels in order to find space and capacity to house folks overnight, depending on how dire the situation gets."
"If it is an emergency, a dire emergency as they said, we could look at putting them in more of a congregate setting just to get them out of the community away from the immediate danger, and that would involve trying to free up space at community centres, arenas, wherever we can safely house folks," Tarini said.
"We haven't gotten to that point yet. Currently between the Thunder Bay airport and a couple of the local hotels, we're able to to manage the the volume."
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