No more Northern Ontario wildfire evacuees Will be brought into Saskatchewan.
In an update given by the province, Ontario is confirming that the wildfire near Pikangikum is being reduced and no more people are being evacuated from the area.
Duane McKay with Saskatchewan Public Safety says they are now working with Ontario to plan how the evacuees will be getting home. “But ultimately this isn’t the only group of people from Pikangikum that are out. There is a number of people in thunder Bay as well, almost 1,000 people there. So we have to wait and see how Ontario wants to move those and how the Chief wants to move which people back first.”
There are currently 420 evacuees housed at the U of R and local hotels.
Deanna Valentine with Emergency Social Services says until a plan to get these people home is finalized, they still have all the resources needed and lots of support from the Ontario community. “They have been amazing at sending resources from their community to help their residents here. We’ve got support folks from the Independent First Nations Alliance, as well as lots of different agencies from the province and Regina.”
Valentine says it has been rough for some of the evacuees and getting settled.
Reports have said there have been some incidents at the university with some minimal damage to the property.
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McKay says some fighting between people is normal because of the stress and close proximity. “It’s been scrapping, fighting and that kind of stuff. That has been among the evacuees and has been dealt with.”
McKay says the damage is mainly just to carpets and bedding. He adds that all damages will be repaired and covered by Ontario and Indigenous Services.
