THUNDER BAY — There's no order yet, but two more First Nations in Northwestern Ontario are making preliminary preparations for evacuation because of forest fires burning in the vicinity.
Greg Rickford – the minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry (MNDMNRF) – says Sachigo Lake and Bearskin Lake "are mobilizing to a level of readiness to potentially start moving, starting with the most vulnerable and elderly."
Red Lake fire 81 has consumed 5,100 hectares and is about 39 km west of Sachigo Lake. A provincial Incident Management Team is assigned to this fire.
The fire of concern to Bearskin Lake is Sioux Lookout 50, about 15 km to the south. It has burned 359 hectares, and firefighters are engaged in what a spokesperson described as aggressive suppression activity.
Poplar Hill and Deer Lake First Nations commenced full-scale evacuations earlier this week due to fires burning in their areas.
On Tuesday, a government spokesperson said between 600 and 800 residents of Pikangikum First Nation would be taken to other communities, including as far away as Timmins.
That city on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in order to access additional resources and provincial aid.
In an interview, Rickford said Timmins may take in even more evacuees from Pikangikum, which has a population of 3,000 people.
He also noted that there is ongoing concern about a fire in the Red Lake area, although an evacuation has not been ordered there.
In a significant move on Wednesday morning, MNDMNRF issued an Emergency Area Order (EAO) for all of Northwestern Ontario.
This sets the table for the ministry to take extraordinary measures in the event of a forest fire emergency.
Rickford said "We just need flexibility, and the opportunity to move across the region as these fires and/or smoke develop."
He said specific measures might include temporary road closures in areas under siege by fire or smoke, restricting occupancy of Crown land, and restricting travel in and out of these areas.
"This isn't just about restrictive powers," Rickford emphasized.
"It's about ensuring that our roadways, runways, Crown land and/or any private property that may be put at risk either by access that may not be required in the context of the emergencies we are dealing with are ready for just those kinds of activities – firefighting, or evacuating people, or moving emergency vehicles freely across the affected regions."
The minister also described the EAO as "a foundational order" that allows the province, municipalities and First Nations to execute more specific emergency declarations providing additional powers, or trigger the release of resources from other levels of government including the federal government.
The federal role could include emergency funding or military support if necessary.
Rickford added, however, that "despite the chaos that the fire, wind and weather are imposing on us right now, both the firefights and the evacuations are going as well as they possibly can."
He noted that in the middle of a serious forest fire situation, a different kind of emergency has developed in the southern portion of Rainy River District.
"There's no fire or smoke necessarily, but we are dealing with severe drought conditions there."
Rickford said he will meet soon with Agriculture Minister Lisa Thompson to discuss the urgent needs of local farmers.
"So we've got a lot of things going on here, and the Emergency Area Order will give us an opportunity to deal with what in effect is a number of different challenges" in Northwestern Ontario, he said.
