THUNDER BAY – The 63 evacuees from Weenusk First Nation are already missing home, two days after arriving in the city, according to Thunder Bay Fire Rescue’s Fire Prevention Chief Kevin Anderson.
“They’re getting homesick, they want to go home, so we just try to keep them comfortable and keep the children busy with some activities,” he said. Anderson added that children have been playing in the hotel pool and there will be craft activities available.
Weenusk First Nation evacuated its most vulnerable members from their homes in Peawanuck on Wednesday, due to a 135-hectare wildfire close to the community.
Among the 63 evacuees are Weenusk health director Emilie Veilleux and her family.
“I think people are feeling a little bit mixed emotions. It’s a lot to take in to have to leave our community, ut at the same time, a little bit of a relief that we’re out here, we’re safe. But I know people are excited to go back home,” said Veilleux.
It’s a big deal for a family to go from a small community to a large city. “There’s a lot of excitement being in a big city, but there’s a lot of fear. We’re always worried about our kids, we don’t want anyone to get lost, or anything to happen to anyone,” she said.
Peawanuk is a low-arctic Cree settlement near Hudson Bay coast, one of the most isolated and northerly communities in the province.
The evacuees are in daily communication with the chief and council, according to Veilleux, who said that the community is “taking it day-by-day.”
Veilleux also praised the quick response from Thunder Bay. “I think the efforts that were put into organizing the hosts for our community was really well done based on such a short notice. We’re very pleased with the services we’re getting here.”
Back in Peawanuck, four crews of Ontario Fire Rangers are working alongside the MNR’s Coastal Rangers and Peawanuck initiative crews, according to MNR fire information officer Alison Lake.
“The combined crews are making excellent progress, they’ve been able to tie a hose line in around the perimeter of the fire, and that means that they’re now working in from the edges to extinguish the fire,” she said.
Lake described the fire to Newswatch as “smoldering and showing very low fire behaviour, so its not producing a lot of smoke,” according to the reports she has received. She added that the crews have had the advantage of overcast skies, low winds and a bit of rain.
She also explained that the 135-hectare area of the fire refers to the entire affected area not only active flames. “There may be a very small amount of that area that’s actually what you would think of as active fire,” she said.
“But the fire crews want to be very sure that the fire is extinguished so they’re methodically moving through to try to get every bit of it and extinguish it,” she said.
The Peawanuck airport is not under immediate threat, according to Lake, although it had been closest to the fire.
