Nearly 2,000 evacuees from a small First Nation community in Northern Ontario have been forced from their homes, with some families sent to different locations.
A 38-hectare fire has threatened the community of Pikangikum First Nation, about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, forcing more than half of its 3,800 residents to evacuate the region.
The evacuees have been sent to the northern Ontario communities of Thunder Bay, Kapuskasing and Timmins, with another 700 sent to Winnipeg.
“It’s been a hard week for us back home, pretty much for everybody,” Calvin Keeper, one of the evacuees sent to Manitoba, told CTV Winnipeg.
With so many people being transported to separate locations across the region, some residents have been separated from their loved ones.
"I'm trying to find my siblings,” Borwon Owens.
Others are thankful to be safe, but haven’t been updated on the status of their belongings.
"I'm just glad to get out of there,” said resident Harold Aspert. “Hopefully my house will be standing when I get back home."
In Winnipeg, the Canadian Red Cross is co-ordinating services for the evacuees and organizing their hotel stays.
"People arrive here, we get them settled at a reception centre and if they need any medical assistance there’s medical personnel,” said Shawn Feely, the Canadian Red Cross’ vice president for Manitoba and Nunavut.
The Canadian Ministry of Resources and Forestry said on Monday the wildfire had begun to slow its progress, but there is no word on when the residents will be allowed to return home.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg’s John Hendricks and with files from CTV News’ Molly Thomas
