THUNDER BAY -- The city's fire chief doesn't put too much stock into reports that evacuees from Kashechewan will be out of their homes for at least three months.
With almost 600 people forced out of their community because of flooding now in Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay Fire Rescue chief John Hay said the province's emergency operations centre doesn't have a timeline and likely won't until a damage assessment can be done on the community.
"That's the only verified information that we can really work off of," he said.
Some media reports, and even a Kashechewan spokesman, said residents wouldn't be heading home for at least three months. Hay said it's unlikely anyone knows that for sure right now.
"What's hard to get is information from the community up there as to conditions and things like that," he said.
Evacuees are now in hotels and the city's parks and recreation departments are setting up programming.
Hotels have also pitched in with things like movie nights Hay said. There's no set amount of days before more permanent accommodations need to be found. Hay said there are several options but its up to community members to figure out what their needs are and request them.
"They're pretty good at identifying what their needs are," he said.
