A local lawmaker describes a large wildfire that has led to the evacuation of two First Nations in northern Ontario as a “sleeping giant” for the time being.
Sol Mamakwa, the New Democrat representative for Kiiwetinoong, visited Sandy Lake First Nation on Thursday.
Many of the community’s 2,000 residents have been relocated to various areas in Ontario because of the fire known as Red Lake 12.
According to Ontario officials, the fire has grown to over 160,000 hectares and is currently uncontrolled.
This same fire previously led to the evacuation of Deer Lake First Nation, although firefighters have now effectively established a fire break around the community’s edge.
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Currently, Mamakwa mentions that around 200 individuals remain in Sandy Lake First Nation, along with firefighting crews.
“It’s pretty much like a sleeping giant, the officials told me,” Mamakwa observed.
Firefighters and local residents are tirelessly working to safeguard structures, he noted.
They are installing sprinkler systems around several buildings, such as the community center, and large fuel storage tanks.
After flying over the fire upon his arrival on Thursday around noon, Mamakwa stated, “This fire is just massive.” Though he noticed little smoke when he landed, by his departure around 6 p.m., smoke began to rise again.
Mamakwa has been advocating for multiple levels of government to invest in more extensive and better-maintained runways in remote First Nations. Although the military deployed large CC-130 Hercules aircraft to assist with the evacuation at Sandy Lake, Mamakwa remarked that the planes “could not take the full capacity because the airstrip is too small.”
Nonetheless, he expressed that the “organized chaos” of evacuating nearly 2,000 individuals from the community was ultimately successful.
Wildfires have been affecting northern areas in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
Webequie First Nation, situated east of Sandy Lake, has also had to evacuate due to another fire that spans about 11,000 hectares and remains uncontrolled.
Over 10,000 individuals in Saskatchewan and 21,000 in Manitoba have been displaced because of the wildfires.
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