After 2-week wildfire evacuation, Sask. First Nations hope to enhance emergency management
Hundreds of evacuees are returning home to the Red Earth and Shoal Lake Cree Nations after a wildfire left an unsafe smoky haze lingering in their homes.
It’s the second time this wildfire season the communities have evacuated – leaving the chiefs looking to strengthen their independent emergency response plans.
“We get a better service if we do it ourselves instead of waiting for somebody that’s supposed to be providing the service to our communities. It’s just not there,” said Shoal Lake Chief Marcel Head.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is responding to the nearby wildfire. However, Head said the response wasn’t quick enough to prevent evacuations.
“(Wildfires are) affecting our communities. We may as well do that ourselves because I think we do a better job.”
Fred Bradshaw is the MLA for Carrot River Valley, which includes Shoal Lake and Red Earth.
“There’s been some problems. The thing is, this year we’ve just had an abnormally dry year in the forest and any little thing will set off a fire and it’s very difficult to put out when it’s this dry,” Bradshaw said.
He added that trained firefighters from Shoal Lake and Red Earth are working with the public safety agency, but Head said it would be best if they “completely take over.”
Head said he and Red Earth’s chief, Fabian Head, want a national plan where every First Nation has its own emergency response centre. This would also include other emergency resources, such as search and rescue.
“Obviously we need support in terms of equipment to go along with our response plan,” Fabian said, explaining how Red Earth’s 1986 fire truck isn’t optimal for a proper response.
“It’s infrastructure like that that we need to be able to handle these emergencies.”
Head estimated about 600 people evacuated from Shoal Lake, while about 800 people fled from Red Earth.
Fabian said the two communities will likely see smoke on and off throughout the winter.
“It’s just that idea of having to be on standby more or less now going into the winter season, into the winter months knowing that the fire is still there, it will still be burning.”
The two chiefs have been vocal about how wildfires are impacting Indigenous lands, killing off wildlife needed for hunting and trapping.
“That’s why we had to send that message – SOS,” Fabian said.
“Save our ancestral lands, save our trapping lands, our hunting lands, our campgrounds.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.