KITCHENUHMAYKOOSIB INNINUWUG FIRST NATION, Ont. – A deadly house fire that killed five people in Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation continues to leave the community reeling.
The Thursday blaze, which ravaged a Macheetao Road home in the Northwestern Ontario First Nations community, claimed the lives of a mother and four children – ages six, seven, nine and 12.
Community spokesperson Sam McKay said the immediate family is totally devastated.
"Right now people are still in shock," McKay said on Friday. "We are just trying to go on and continue to deal with the situation at this moment with leadership and all of the community members that are helping."
A prayer vigil was held Friday morning, at the request of the family, before the investigation begins at the site.
McKay said the community's fire truck is not operational and a fire hall that had been built in the last few years has not been used.
"We don't have any firefighting equipment," McKay said. "We don't have any funding for firefighting equipment and to even have some kind of fire department organized. We don't have the resources to do that. People just respond on their own when something like this happens."
With the fire truck out of service, the community tries to utilize water trucks when there is a fire to minimize damage but the early morning hours of the fire limited the response.
Three people who tried to assist were medical evacuated out of the community. One suffered undisclosed injuries and all suffered smoke inhalation. McKay said he had not received an update on their conditions.
"By the time anybody could do anything it was too late," McKay said.
Between 2007 and 2016, there were 34 fatal fires in the province's Indigenous communities that claimed 58 lives, prompting Ontario's chief coroner last year to launch a panel to conduct a review.
In March 2016, a Pikangikum First Nation house fire killed nine people, including a five-month-old baby and two other children under five years old. Four people died in a 2014 blaze in Mishkeegogamang First Nation, while a 2013 house fire in Wunnumin Lake First Nation killed three people.
“If this happened in the south, in a municipality, this would be totally unacceptable. Why are they not providing the funding to provide these services to be available?" McKay said.
"Whenever a house fire breaks out, all we can do is to ensure people get out and the house gets burned down. That's basically the normal process but we were very unfortunate this time around that we lost five people."
Ontario Indigenous Affairs Minister Greg Rickford on Friday afternoon issued a statement, expressing condolences to the family, friends, community and KI leadership.
"I would like to thank the first responders and acknowledge the strength and support of the community during this terrible time," Rickford said in the written statement.
"Our government will work with the community and the federal government over the next days and weeks to see how we can continue to be of assistance and to offer support as needed to help with this crisis."
Nishnawbe Aski Nation on Thursday sent four counsellors to the community, where they are working with the immediate family. A crisis response team has also been deployed from Kasabonika and Bearskin Lake First Nations.
An investigation is being conducted by provincial police, along with members of the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management Ontario, the Chief Coroner's Office and Ontario Forensic Pathology Services working in cooperation with the OPP.
A GoFundMe campaign established following the fire has already raised more than $17,000, quickly surpassing the initial $10,000 target.
