Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief worried upcoming wildfire season might force another evacuation

It’s been a difficult 12 months for the community of Pimicikamak Cree Nation.

The community was evacuated twice last wildfire season, and a third time late last year after a days-long power outage caused broken pipes and extensive damage.

Now, Chief David Monias is worried that a fourth evacuation could be on the way as we head into a new wildfire season, as roughly 1,200 people still have yet to return home.

“Well, I am concerned right now in terms of the preparedness that we need to do for the fires. I heard about the budget in terms of how much they put together, but the cost of the fire (that occurred) last year was valued almost 10 times more than what they were budgeting,” said Chief Monias.

This year’s provincial budget allocated $50 million for emergency expenditures, the same as last year, when the province went over budget by $333 million. Chief Monias says just because there were fires in the area last year doesn’t mean the same can’t happen again.

“We know that there’s lots of fuel left to burn,” said Chief Monias.

As for the ask from the province, Monias wants more funding for preventative measures, and resources to be able to respond to fires quickly, such as better access to air support like water bombers and helicopters, ground equipment like hoses and fireguards.

“There’s a community-led firefighting team that needs to be developed here because we can do this. We don’t need to have people flown in from other countries to do this. If they give us some money, we could train people, and they just need to change the bureaucracy that’s happening around wildfires and training, you know, we’ve done this before,” said Chief Monias.

CityNews has reached out to the province, which said, “The $50 million emergency fund is designed to ensure Manitoba can respond quickly when crises occur, but if more support is needed then additional resources will be made available. We know that wildfires are deeply disruptive and traumatic, particularly for First Nations and northern Manitobans who have been forced to leave their homes and lands. These events affect families, livelihoods, and whole communities, and we take that responsibility seriously. Our government will continue working with Indigenous leadership, and all those affected, to ensure all necessary supports and resources are available.”

As for residents of Pimicikamak, Chief Monias said, “They want to go back to some form of normalcy. I think they’re done being in the hotel.”