Deadly blaze highlights inadequate resources on First Nations reserves
A house fire in the remote Northern Ontario reservation of Pikangikum killed three generations of a family living in a crowded home. The fire that killed nine people—three of whom were children—points toward inadequate conditions on First Nations reserves.
Isadore Day, with the chiefs of Northern Ontario, said that the fire should spur action by the federal government to improve “third-world conditions” on First Nations reserves.
House fires occur frequently on First Nations reserves—a consequence of shoddy construction, overcrowding, and a lack of running water.
“We’ve been saying for many years the housing situation that we’re in is inadequate and does not meet the standards of any home in the province of Ontario,” said Pikangikum Chief Dean Owen, in a March 30, 2016 article from the Globe and Mail. “Ninety per cent of homes don’t have plumbing or running water, and we have limited funds to build homes that are safe.”
A 2011 report completed for the federal government revealed that fires on First Nations reserves were 2.4 per cent higher than the national average, and that First Nations citizens were 10 times more likely to die in house fires than the average Canadian.
The fire occurred last Tuesday, March 29, 2016, and though provincial and local police rushed to the scene, emergency responders were unable to pull any of the house’s inhabitants out alive. CBC News further reported that the remote reservation has a firetruck, but no fire department.
The family included Dean and Annette Strang, their son Gilbert and his partner, their daughter Faith and her partner, as well as Faith’s three children.
According to Alvin Fiddler, the Grand Chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, when people talk about the First Nations communities that are in dire need of infrastructure, Pikangikum is at the top of the list. Fiddler represents 49 First Nation communities in Northern Ontario.
Fiddler stressed the importance of a water system for Pikangikum. The people of Pikangikum still use outhouses, he said, “and there is virtually no fire suppression capacity, no fire trucks, because there is no running water, and no fire hydrants.”
House fires are a problem on reservations across Canada. Northern Ontario First Nations communities have experienced similar tragedies in recent years. In 2014, a fire in Mishkeegogamang killed a mother, her two young daughters, and a nephew. A blaze the previous year in Wunnumin Lake killed two young children and their 21-year-old aunt. Additionally, two boys died in a fire in Nibinamik in 2013.
The Liberal government has promised to spend 1.8 billion over five years—going one year past its mandate—to improve water systems on reserves. However, that does not necessarily mean the Pikangikum will get the resources they need to prevent tragedies.
The fire last Tuesday is but one more tragedy the Pikangikum community is grappling with, as Pikangikum has been battling a long-term suicide epidemic. By late Wednesday afternoon, the Federal government had sent a dispatched trauma team to provide counseling and support.