Manitoba premier plans to visit First Nation after 3 children killed in house fire

Manitoba's premier says she is arranging a visit to a northern Indigenous community where three children died in a fatal house fire.

Heather Stefanson said her thoughts are with the Pimicikamak Cree Nation and she hopes to be there later this week when she attends a festival in The Pas.

The three young people died Saturday in a fire on the reserve, about 530 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Mounties have said four other people in the house — a 36-year old man, a 36-year-old woman, a 20-year-old woman and a four-year-old girl — were able to escape through a window.

David Monias, Chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, said Monday the family and the community itself is still grieving in the wake of the tragedy. He confirmed the deceased are two teenagers and a toddler.

"They're in mourning. It's devastating to them. It 's unbelievable. They're in shock," Monias said. "You hear the cries, you see the desperation to see their loved ones once more.

"They're trying to make sense of it but it doesn't make sense."

The Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak is sending about six counsellors from its crisis team to help the family and community, including emergency personnel, deal with the grief. Local mental health resources, as well as the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch will also be able to provide assistance.

"We felt that we needed to have people sit down with them," Monias added.

Funding needed for extensive housing upgrades

He didn't say the family's housing situation played a direct role in the fire, but the house the family was staying in at the time of the fire wasn't theirs.

According to Monias, they had spent time at the homes of family members, but that housing itself is a major issue in the community. Even the chief admitted to being homeless.

In the past couple of years, he says he has spoken with several government officials, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the need for housing. There are 173 people the local council has asked to prioritize houseing for, Monias said.

He believes his community needs about 1,000 new homes, but asked for 100 through the federal Rapid Housing Initiative, which was launched in October 2020 and had $1 billion in funding initially earmarked. The second phase of the initiative is supposed to provide $1.5 billion in funding, though the request for 100 homes was later denied, he says.

Monias' most recent correspondence with government officials was a promise that six new homes are coming to Pimicikamak Cree Nation at a later date.

In the meantime, a local grocery store has donated $6,000 to help the family.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Grand Chief Garrison Settee, who represents northern First Nations in Manitoba and is from the community, said in a statement that it was an awful tragedy.