Latest news with #Pikangikum
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Aid groups rally to help First Nations facing mass food spoilage after northwestern Ontario outages
Aid organizations are ramping up efforts to replenish supplies after power outages across half a dozen First Nations in northwestern Ontario led to mass food spoilage. Last weekend, hydro poles along the Wataynikaneyap Power line were damaged by wildfires, leading to a shutdown of vital utilities across Pikangikum, North Spirit Lake, Keewaywin, Deer Lake, Sandy Lake and Poplar Hill First Nations. Only Sandy Lake and Deer Lake had access to backup diesel fuel. After four days of outages, the First Nations are still recuperating from the substantial food spoilage, overheating in homes, and shortages of food, fuel and other essential supplies. Wataynikaneyap Power said restoration was completed as of 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Pikangikum First Nation Chief Paddy Peters related to CBC News the magnitude of the outages' impact on the remote Ojibway community. "Beneath the smoke and silence was a quieter emergency," Peters said. "As we all know, food is already expensive — painfully so. "But the true cost becomes unimaginable when you have no power, no water, no way to preserve or prepare food." Surrounding wildfires still pose a threat to several communities. Pikangikum has evacuated its most vulnerable members to Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout due to Red Lake 62, a blaze just seven kilometres away. Meanwhile, North Spirit Lake sent at-risk members to Toronto because of Red Lake 40, which is more than 8,700 hectares large and remains not under control. 'For many, it was the only food they had' Watching his community members bring their spoiled food to the dump was a painful experience, Peters said. "For four days, families watched their fridges and freezers thawing the moose meat. The fish, the berries — all gone," he said. "Food gathered through hunting and fishing, passed down through generations, lost. "For many, it was the only food they had." LISTEN | Pikangikum receives support from Thunder Bay's RFDA Volker Kromm is executive director of Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA), which provides food to 37 partner organizations and 47 First Nations across northwestern Ontario. After his organization received a phone call from a colleague, Kromm said, it quickly readied its emergency response. "[What] we're always willing to do is respond in the case of an emergency," Kromm told CBC News. "Things like water, non-perishable foods and dry goods were needed … they weren't sure if people were coming out or people were staying." With such a dynamic situation, Kromm's organization persisted in ensuring emergency supplies were at the ready. "The situation was really rather fluid [but] we made a commitment that we would help. We went out and purchased water and things," he said. Through collaboration with partners, the RFDA was able to use a passenger plane to transport non-perishable items to Pikangikum. Peters said his community has received one shipment of food from the RFDA so far. Increase in wildfire-related emergencies GlobalMedic provides disaster relief internationally, but in recent years, the organization has had to respond to more emergencies across Canada related to wildfires — including in northwestern Ontario. The founder of GlobalMedic, Rahul Singh, said that with the increase in emergencies across First Nations, secondary issues like food insecurity have become pervasive. "It's at multiple sites and it's multiple areas," Singh said. "There's a lot of resources that have been put in. People have needs and we're trying to meet those needs." But delivering food to fly-in communities in crisis poses a transportation challenge. With the lack of roads, supplies have to be distributed in smaller batches, he explained. "There's no road," Singh said. "Everything has to get dropped down into smaller sizes onto small aircraft." As a result of these emergency situations, Peters said, food insecurity is becoming a greater challenge in his community. "It's very extreme what is happening here," he said. "I've never seen this before in my whole lifetime."
CBC
19-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Aid groups rally to help First Nations facing mass food spoilage after northwestern Ontario outages
Aid organizations are ramping up efforts to replenish supplies after power outages across half a dozen First Nations in northwestern Ontario led to mass food spoilage. Last weekend, hydro poles along the Wataynikaneyap Power line were damaged by wildfires, leading to a shutdown of vital utilities across Pikangikum, North Spirit Lake, Keewaywin, Deer Lake, Sandy Lake and Poplar Hill First Nations. Only Sandy Lake and Deer Lake had access to backup diesel fuel. After four days of outages, the First Nations are still recuperating from the substantial food spoilage, overheating in homes, and shortages of food, fuel and other essential supplies. Wataynikaneyap Power said restoration was completed as of 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Pikangikum First Nation Chief Paddy Peters related to CBC News the magnitude of the outages' impact on the remote Ojibway community. "Beneath the smoke and silence was a quieter emergency," Peters said. "As we all know, food is already expensive — painfully so. "But the true cost becomes unimaginable when you have no power, no water, no way to preserve or prepare food." Surrounding wildfires still pose a threat to several communities. Pikangikum has evacuated its most vulnerable members to Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout due to Red Lake 62, a blaze just seven kilometres away. Meanwhile, North Spirit Lake sent at-risk members to Toronto because of Red Lake 40, which is more than 8,700 hectares large and remains not under control. 'For many, it was the only food they had' Watching his community members bring their spoiled food to the dump was a painful experience, Peters said. "For four days, families watched their fridges and freezers thawing the moose meat. The fish, the berries — all gone," he said. "Food gathered through hunting and fishing, passed down through generations, lost. "For many, it was the only food they had." Volker Kromm is executive director of Regional Food Distribution Association (RFDA), which provides food to 37 partner organizations and 47 First Nations across northwestern Ontario. After his organization received a phone call from a colleague, Kromm said, it quickly readied its emergency response. "[What] we're always willing to do is respond in the case of an emergency," Kromm told CBC News. "Things like water, non-perishable foods and dry goods were needed … they weren't sure if people were coming out or people were staying." With such a dynamic situation, Kromm's organization persisted in ensuring emergency supplies were at the ready. "The situation was really rather fluid [but] we made a commitment that we would help. We went out and purchased water and things," he said. Through collaboration with partners, the RFDA was able to use a passenger plane to transport non-perishable items to Pikangikum. Peters said his community has received one shipment of food from the RFDA so far. Increase in wildfire-related emergencies GlobalMedic provides disaster relief internationally, but in recent years, the organization has had to respond to more emergencies across Canada related to wildfires — including in northwestern Ontario. The founder of GlobalMedic, Rahul Singh, said that with the increase in emergencies across First Nations, secondary issues like food insecurity have become pervasive. "It's at multiple sites and it's multiple areas," Singh said. "There's a lot of resources that have been put in. People have needs and we're trying to meet those needs." But delivering food to fly-in communities in crisis poses a transportation challenge. With the lack of roads, supplies have to be distributed in smaller batches, he explained. "There's no road," Singh said. "Everything has to get dropped down into smaller sizes onto small aircraft." As a result of these emergency situations, Peters said, food insecurity is becoming a greater challenge in his community.
CBC
16-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Power restored to 6 northwestern Ontario First Nations after 4-day outages due to wildfires
New Hydro poles were damaged along Wataynikaneyap Power line Power has been restored to half a dozen First Nations in northwestern Ontario after a series of hydro poles along the Wataynikaneyap Power line were damaged by wildfires on Saturday. Wataynikaneyap Power said the restoration was completed as of 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. "Pikangikum, North Spirit Lake and Keewaywin First Nations are reconnected to grid power," Tuesday night's update said. "Deer Lake, Sandy Lake, and Poplar Hill First Nations have their assets energized to allow a reconnection to the grid from their diesel generator back-ups. Transfer to grid power will be co-ordinated with Hydro One Remote Communities Inc." The outages created a number of challenges in the communities, resulting in food spoilage, overheating in people's homes, and shortages of food, fuel and other essential supplies, as Pikangikum First Nation's chief told CBC News. WATCH | Pikangikum First Nation's chief on power outage Media Video | Pikangikum's chief speaks out on Day 4 of community-wide power outage. Caption: Pikangikum First Nation has been without power for four days after wildfires damaged six hydro poles in northwestern Ontario, causing outages in as many First Nations. Here's the latest from Chief Paddy Peters about what the remote Ojibway community is going through. Open Full Embed in New Tab Loading external pages may require significantly more data usage than loading CBC Lite story pages. However, surrounding wildfires still pose threats to a number of communities in the region. Pikangikum is continuing to evacuate its most vulnerable members to Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout due to Red Lake 62, a 31,000-hectare, out-of-control blaze just seven kilometres away. Meanwhile, North Spirit Lake sent its at-risk members to Toronto because of Red Lake 40, which is more than 8,700 hectares large and remains not under control. A spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) provided an emailed statement to CBC News on Tuesday evening. "Indigenous Services Canada continues to work in close collaboration with all partners to support evacuation operations and respond to emergency needs as the situation evolves," said Anispiragas Piragasanathar. "Through the Emergency Management Assistance Program (EMAP), ISC reimburses all eligible costs related to wildfire response and recovery, including evacuation support and culturally-sensitive services such as mental health care, traditional foods, language interpretation, and child care." Elsewhere, a 32,000-hectare fire known as Red Lake 67 prompted self-evacuations in McDowell Lake First Nation. East of Poplar Hill, the Red Lake 72 fire has grown to 4,900 hectares. The region's largest wildfire, Red Lake 12, continues to be observed at 195,000 hectares.
CBC
16-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Power restored to 6 northwestern Ontario First Nations after 4-day outage
Social Sharing Power has been restored to half a dozen First Nations in northwestern Ontario, after a series of hydro poles along the Wataynikaneyap Power line were damaged by wildfires on Saturday. Wataynikaneyap Power says the restoration was completed as of 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. "Pikangikum, North Spirit Lake, and Keewaywin First Nations are re-connected to grid power," it said in Tuesday night's update. "Deer Lake, Sandy Lake, and Poplar Hill First Nations have their assets energized to allow a reconnection to the grid from their diesel generator back-ups. Transfer to grid power will be co-ordinated with Hydro One Remote Communities Inc." The outages created a number of challenges in the affected communities, resulting in food spoilage, overheating in people's homes, and shortages of food, fuel and other essential supplies, as Pikangikum First Nation's chief told CBC News. WATCH | Pikangikum First Nation's chief on power outage Pikangikum's chief speaks out on Day 4 of community-wide power outage. 18 hours ago However, surrounding wildfires still post threats to a number of communities in the region. Pikangikum is continuing to evacuate its most vulnerable members to Thunder Bay and Sioux Lookout due to Red Lake 62, a 31,000-hectare out-of-control blaze just seven kilometres away. Meanwhile, North Spirit Lake sent its at-risk members to Toronto because of Red Lake 40, which is more than 8,700 hectares large and remains not under control. Elsewhere, a 32,000-hectare fire known as Red Lake 67 prompted self-evacuations in McDowell Lake First Nation. East of Poplar Hill, the Red Lake 72 fire has grown to 4,900 hectares. The region's largest wildfire, Red Lake 12, continues to be observed at 195,000 hectares. Thanks to the precipitation, the wildland fire hazard is now low to moderate across the entire northwest region.
CBC
14-07-2025
- General
- CBC
Wildfire-related power outages have now hit 6 First Nations in northwestern Ontario
Social Sharing People in Pikangikum First Nation are using the little fuel they have left to shine headlights into their homes as a way to escape the darkness as wildfires continue to damage hydro poles in the region. The remote Ojibway community in northwestern Ontario has been without power for three days. Five other communities in the region — Deer Lake, Sandy Lake, Poplar Hill, North Spirit Lake and Keewaywin First Nations — are also now experiencing outages. Paddy Peters, chief of Pikangikum, said area wildfires have damaged six poles along the Wataynikaneyap Power line, creating a chain reaction in half a dozen First Nations. "People are running out of food," said Peters. "We need a lot of fresh food in our community. We need baby milk, Enfamil, Pampers. We need lights." There are vulnerable members of these communities who will need to be medevaced out to ensure they are able to access the services they need. - Alvin Fiddler, grand chief, Nishnawbe Aski Nation Tiziana Baccega Rosa, senior media relations adviser for Hydro One, provided an emailed statement to CBC News just after 5 p.m. ET on Monday. "Through its distribution system, Hydro One Remote Communities, a subsidiary of Hydro One Inc., provides electricity from Wataynikaneyap Power's transmission line to remote and isolated communities in Ontario's far north," Baccega Rosa said. "Hydro One is mobilizing 20 transmission crew members along with off-road equipment to support Wataynikaneyap Power's restoration work." While people in Deer Lake and Sandy Lake have access to power through emergency diesel, Baccega Rosa said well over 1,000 customers in the other four First Nations are without power. An update from Sandy Lake First Nation said crews were expected to replace the first hydro pole on Monday. "Hydro One has also offered assistance and is moving additional equipment in from Kenora and Dryden," the First Nation said on Facebook on Monday afternoon. Internet, cell and telephone lines remain down. Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents 49 First Nations across Treaties 9 and 5, sent an emailed statement to CBC News on Monday. "There is a growing concern with the threat to many of our remote communities including Pikangikum, Keewaywin and Poplar Hill," Fiddler said. "We are worried about the elderly and those needing air conditioning, and the spoilage of food and harvested wild game in stored freezers. We have been in touch with Wataynikaneyap Power and hope that power can be restored as quickly as possible." The Northern Store in Pikangikum has been closed for three days, said Peters, "and I'm sure a lot of their products, essential goods, are spoiling." Communication systems have also been compromised, Fiddler said, making it difficult for leaders to reach emergency responders and government officials. "There are vulnerable members of these communities who will need to be medevaced out to ensure they are able to access the services they need," Fiddler said. "We have addressed these concerns to various levels of government and are following up with senior officials today to ensure that our communities receive immediate support." In the meantime, evacuation efforts continue in Pikangikum due to a 31,000-hectare fire, known as Red Lake 62, just seven kilometres away. The fire is shifting eastward, away from Pikangikum. Still, Peters said, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) should have warned him about it sooner. This should have never happened. Somebody made the wrong decision out there. When the fire was 30 kilometres away, we should have been warned and told to get ready for an evacuation. "This should have never happened. Somebody made the wrong decision out there. When the fire was 30 kilometres away, we should have been warned and told to get ready for an evacuation," he said. CBC News has reached out to the MNR and is awaiting a response. However, Carolane Gratton, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), said in an emailed statement, "Ontario is in the midst of a very active wildfire season, and Indigenous Services Canada is working in partnership with all affected First Nations, as well as First Nations leadership and organizations, the province of Ontario and other partners to respond. "Ensuring the safety and well-being of community members is our top priority, and we continue to support evacuation efforts and emergency needs as the situation evolves." About 4,000 people live in Pikangikum, located in Treaty 5 about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. A command centre has been set up at the school, the only building with power, thanks to a backup generator. While about 2,000 evacuees were initially expected to be sent to Toronto and Mississauga, Peters said, "that's too far to send my people." Instead, about 500 people have been sent to Thunder Bay and 50 prenatal women went to Sioux Lookout, he said. More evacuees are on the way, either boarding Dash-8 planes or choosing to self-evacuate. "As a leader, I'm very concerned [about] the number of people that are still here," said Peters. Favourable winds in the forecast As for Red Lake 62, Ontario Forest Fires said an implementation order remains in effect for the area, limiting the use of many roads and lakes. "Ongoing drought conditions in the Red Lake sector continue to support a really active fire behaviour and deep burning fires, which are stubborn to extinguish and take longer periods," fire information officer Chris Marchand told CBC News on Monday afternoon. "There is very little in terms of rain in the forecast, though our winds are expected to remain in a favourable direction for some of the larger fires where firefighting operations are taking place." There are 10 crews, seven pieces of heavy equipment and 18 aircraft fighting Red Lake 62, with more workers expected to arrive in the area in the coming days, he said. While rainfall has been patchy across the region, the wildland fire hazard is highest along the Manitoba border, "which has seen a dry spring and summer, and has these ongoing drought conditions," said Marchand. More than 20 air quality statements are in effect across northwestern Ontario, including for Pikangikum, due to wildfire smoke. With no definitive timeline for restoration of power, Peters said he's calling for more resources to be delivered as soon as possible. "We're sending out an SOS. Whoever is listening, we need help," he said. "We need prayers. If you're a prayer warrior out there, pray for our community, pray for our people."
