Members of First Nation destroyed by northwestern Ontario wildfire helped each other escape by boat

'Adrenalin definitely took over,' Namaygoosisagagun First Nation resident says

Miiyah Paavola received a call earlier this week from her mother telling her that the entire community of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation in northwestern Ontario needed to evacuate due to a wildfire, but not to panic.

“So of course, I panicked,” said the 15-year-old daughter of Chief Helen Paavola, who was in Ottawa at the time.

Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins First Nation, is west of Armstrong, about 250 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. It has 130 registered members, but the number of people living in the community fluctuates.

On Monday, just over two dozen people were in the First Nation when a wildfire quickly approached the area.

“I've never seen a fire that big. It was angry. It was moving fast. The wind really did not help,” Miiyah said.

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Word quickly spread as the smoke and flames grew closer. Community members, including Scott Frank and Lyndon Paavola, went door to door to tell everyone to pack a bag and head to the beach.

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For Miiyah, that meant grabbing her two chihuahuas and telling her friends to hurry up.

“It was within a matter of minutes where it went from just smoke to open flames just around the corner from us,” Frank said. “Adrenalin definitely took over.”

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After boarding a handful of boats — stuffed to the brim with people and pets — community members drove across the lake as their entire First Nation burned to the ground behind them. Everyone got out safely.

During this time, Chief Paavola was at the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Annual General Assembly in the nation's capital. She tried to keep in contact with community members over the phone, but the service kept cutting out.

“There was a time where it was just that silence, where I didn't even know if anybody survived,” Paavola said. “It's a miracle that my members are alive today.”

After getting off the boats, “it was a race to make it to the 527 highway,” Frank said. “That fire was right behind us the whole way.”

Evacuees are now staying in hotels in Thunder Bay. More than a dozen communities are under mandatory evacuation orders as of Thursday, and the city has run out of room to accommodate more people.

“They survived it, but now we have nothing,” the chief said. “The whole community burned down within less than an hour.”

The wildfire affecting Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, Armstrong and Whitesand First Nation was more than 350,000 hectares large as of Thursday, according to Ontario’s Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services.

‘They have a duty to help us’

As more than 175 wildfires burn across Ontario, Paavola is pushing for the provincial and federal governments to step up to support her people, who have no home to return to.

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However, this hasn’t been easy; Namaygoosisagagun is still in the process of becoming recognized as an official First Nation.

“That shouldn't stop them from helping us,” Paavola said. “They have a duty to help us.”

On Thursday morning, the Ontario government issued a formal Request for Assistance to the federal government “to be prepared to expedite the deployment of federal resources to support evacuations.”

“This includes possible Canadian Armed Forces deployments,” said Jill Dunlop, Ontario’s minister of emergency preparedness and response.

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A statement issued Wednesday from Prime Minister Mark Carney said Ottawa is on top of what's happening in northwestern Ontario.

“Our government is in close contact with provincial, municipal, and Indigenous partners and stands ready to provide any additional support as needed.”

Community determined to rebuild

Alvin Fiddler is grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political-territorial organization that represents 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5.

Among his main concerns is the lack of infrastructure in Ontario’s far north to facilitate firefighting efforts and large-scale evacuations.

“Many of our airports are limited in size, and the capacity to be able to accommodate bigger aircraft to fly in and to fly people out in high numbers is very challenging,” Fiddler told CBC News on Wednesday.

“We need to make sure that every resource is available to our communities for them to be safe.”

NAN has also raised concerns about highway closures and telecommunication breakdowns affecting people’s ability to access essential health-care in the region.

“Our main priority is to prevent loss of life at the community level and also at the host sites where these community members will be taken,” said Fiddler.

Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 First Nations in Ontario, has set up supports for members of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation in Thunder Bay and is collecting donations on the community’s behalf.

Chief Paavola said she's proud of her people for looking after one another.

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“They're my heroes,” she said of those who led the evacuation. “They risked their lives to make sure that everyone was accounted for.”

The people of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation are unique, living off the land and water in homes they built themselves. Though their future remains uncertain, the chief said her First Nation is determined to rebuild.

“That is our home,” she said. “We are gonna go home.”

Sarah Law is a CBC News reporter based in Thunder Bay, Ont., and has also worked for newspapers and online publications elsewhere in the province. Have a story tip? You can reach her at sarah.law@cbc.ca.

With files from Cameron MacIntosh