THUNDER BAY - With more evacuations planned in Pikangikum First Naiton due to a forest fire burning six kilometers away, the city of Thunder Bay has offered to host evacuees.
Evacuations of vulnerable members of the community began on Saturday with assistance from Canadian Armed Forces personnel. Additional evacuations are planned for Sunday if conditions allow.
Community leaders are advising people not to self-evacuate because it is not safe to do so.
Red Lake Fire 39 is burning six kilometres southwest of Pikangikum First Nation and is more than 40,000 hectares in size. The fire is causing significant smoke to drift into the community.
“I received a request this morning from the Province of Ontario regarding the serious threat of wildfires and heavy smoke across the region of Northwestern Ontario, putting multiple First Nations communities at risk,” said Minister Ralph Goodale in a statement released Saturday evening.
“This request from the province includes the deployment of Canadian Armed Forces personnel and transportation support required for the evacuation of members from the community of Pikangikum First Nation to a designated host community.”
According to Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, the city has indicated to the province that it is offering to host evacuees, but will be unable to do so until mid week due to staffing issues and hotel vacancy.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is managing Red Lake Fire 39 with an incident management team, which is looking for aerial ignition opportunities to restrict the fire to natural boundaries.
Pikangikum First Nation was forced to evacuate community members and declare a state of emergency in May due to forest fires.
The fire hazard remains high to extreme in many areas of the region, particularly in the northern portion of the Red Lake and Sioux Lookout districts.
The MNRF stated smoke drift from fires burning in the Red Lake district and Manitoba will be visible across the southern portion of the Northwest region.
