Indigenous Services Canada responds to recent house fires in remote northern Ontario First Nations

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) has responded to questions around housing infrastructure and fire services in remote First Nations after two separate structural fires in northern Ontario communities occurred in late August.

The first fire happened in Sachigo Lake First Nation on Aug. 27. Despite fire crews' best efforts, "the residence was a total loss," said Scott Paradis, a spokesperson for the Nishnawbe Aski Police Service (NAPS). 

A 29-year-old man was arrested and charged on Aug. 29 with arson – damage to property, as well as arson – disregard for human life, in connection with the incident. He appeared in bail court Aug. 30 and was remanded into custody with a future appearance date.

Meanwhile, further north, NAPS officers in Fort Severn were called to the scene of a multi-unit residence structural fire on Aug. 28 shortly after 4 a.m.

While residents were successfully evacuated as fire crews battled the blaze, the building "was a total loss," Paradis said. An investigation remains ongoing.

Sachigo Lake First Nation, where about 600 people live, is about 420 kilometres northwest of Sioux Lookout. Fort Severn, a remote community of fewer than 600 people, is about 710 kilometres northeast of Sioux Lookout.

Indigenous Services Canada responds

Eric Head, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), provided an emailed statement to CBC News on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

"In Sachigo Lake First Nation, we have made concrete investments to support their fire hall, fire trucks, and fire safety and protection strategies and training. This also includes a high lift water pump system in Fort Severn, which is critical for putting out fires as quickly as possible," said Head.

"However, the situation in Fort Severn and Sachigo First Nation doesn't exist in a silo; it is a reminder of the many challenges First Nation communities face and we know fire protection can make a difference between life and death."

The 2024 budget has earmarked $20.9 million to support the goal of providing two fire detectors per household in all First Nations in Ontario, he said.

The situation in Fort Severn and Sachigo First Nation doesn't exist in a silo; it is a reminder of the many challenges First Nation communities face and we know fire protection can make a difference between life and death.- Eric Head, spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada

These funds will be used for "distributing fire alarms and fire extinguishers to homes and community facilities on-reserve, as well as assisting with fire-related education programs," said Head.

He also pointed to the First Nations Fire Protection Strategy, co-developed by ISC and the Assembly of First Nations, and updates to the Level of Service Standards for Fire Protection Services.

"These standards outline the approach ISC uses to support First Nations, including: annual funding for education awareness and prevention activities; capital infrastructure such as fire trucks, and fire halls; and support for wildland and urban interface fire protection."

As for housing in First Nations, 3,051 new homes have been built with support from the federal government since 2015, and another 6,380 homes renovated and upgraded, "with many more underway," he said.

'A perfect storm of catastrophe'

There have been several significant structural fires in First Nations across northern Ontario this year:

• Aug. 11: A fire destroyed a church in Kasabonika First Nation.
• Aug. 1: The community's band office and an abandoned home were destroyed in North Spirit Lake First Nation.
• March 2: A fire razed the only nursing station in Cat Lake First Nation.
• Feb. 1: A fatal house fire in Peawanuck resulted in two deaths and three hospitalizations.
• Jan. 25: An intentionally set fire destroyed the only school in Eabametoong First Nation.

A report from Statistics Canada released earlier this month looks at fire-related deaths among Indigenous people in Canada between 2011 and 2020.

More than half of Indigenous people who died in a residential fire lived in a house that needed major repairs, compared to about 13 per cent of non-Indigenous people, the report says.

Additionally, about one in eight residential fire-related deaths among Indigenous people occurred in residences without a working smoke alarm.

Arnold Lazare is deputy chief of operations for the Indigenous Fire Marshal's Service, as part of the National Indigenous Fire Safety Council (NIFSC). Earlier this month, he spoke to CBC's Superior Morning about the Statistics Canada report.

"It didn't tell us anything that we didn't know," Lazare said. "[But] it gives us empirical data that we can then use to go to the funders and the leadership to identify the areas that need to be corrected."

The NIFSC has been advocating for better education about fire safety and evacuations in remote communities, and getting working smoke alarms in all buildings, he said.  It's also been pushing for legislation around First Nations housing being built to code. 

"It's a perfect storm of catastrophe, in the sense that you have overcrowded housing that's substandard, without working smoke alarms and emergency evacuation plans, in rural communities that don't have great fire service," Lazare said.

'We are beyond thoughts and prayers'

Kiiwetinoong MPP Sol Mamakwa was in Fort Severn earlier this month. He says he's been in contact with the community's leadership, and was told there were no fire suppression tools available when the fire broke out this week.

"They just stared at [the building] and then they just watched it burn to the ground," Mamakwa said.

There's "an infrastructure crisis" in northern Ontario, he said, and both provincial and federal levels of government must step up to address it.

"When governments talk about reconciliation, it's just a word — and I think that's it's time that we start looking at infrastructure and water, housing, and fire suppression equipment, training," Mamakwa said.

"We are beyond condolences. We are beyond thoughts and prayers from the government, and I think it's time to put resources into that."

A spokesperson for Greg Rickford, provincial minister of northern development and Indigenous affairs, told CBC News that Rickford was unavailable for an interview about the fires in Fort Severn and Sachigo Lake.