Canada _ (Commonwealth Union) _ As a fire ripped through a residence in Pikangikum First Nation, three people including an eight-year-old child have now been officially pronounced dead. On Wednesday night last week, a fire started in an Ojibway settlement in northwest Ontario. Pikangikum peacekeepers were unable to put out the fire due to technical problems with both of the village fire engines, according to community leaders. Three deaths were found, and the investigation remained ongoing, according to the Ontario Provincial Police on Saturday.
Chief Shirley Lynne Keeper said in a community release, “How many more house fires do we have to go through until the government gets serious? “These losses have had a long-lasting and upsetting effect on the community.”
On Tuesday, NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa asked for a community fire hall while reading aloud the names and ages of the victims of the Pikangikum accident at Queen’s Park in Toronto.
The three are identified as follows:
Vernie Turtle, age 44.
Kirsten Moose, age 38.
Eight-year-old Kendriyanna Turtle.
One resident of the neighborhood told me they were repeating a nightmare, according to Mamakwa. “On Saturday, I was there. They are unable to extinguish the fire, thus after three days the home was still burning. In order to prevent such incidents, our administration must commit to building a fire hall for Pikangikum.”
Mamakawa was alluding to another tragic fire in the neighborhood that occurred on March 29, 2016, leaving nine people dead, including an infant.
The First Nation has been in contact with Greg Rickford, Ontario’s minister of Indigenous affairs, since the fire last week, according to Mamakwa. We acknowledge this tragedy, and I had the opportunity to talk with my longtime friend Chief Dean Owen shortly after the fire, which, as the member points out, claimed the lives of three members of the community.
The Independent First Nations Alliance (IFNA) is overseeing an emergency operations center at the request of the community and coordinating help during this horrific occurrence with other First Nations, provincial, and federal partners.
