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CBC
20 hours ago
- General
- CBC
Firefighting sisters from Pinaymootang First Nation working on the front lines of Manitoba's wildfire effort
Two firefighting sisters from Pinaymootang First Nation in Manitoba's Interlake region say they are looking forward to returning to the front lines of the provincial wildfire effort following a deployment battling the Nopiming Provincial Park blaze near Bissett. Delilah Anderson, 22, and Heather Anderson, 21, completed their firefighter training last year and were sent to Bissett, about 160 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, earlier this month. They said it was the second wildfire they had ever fought. "We're new, but we're doing something for our community," said Delilah, who hopes to be a role model for other young women and girls from Pinaymootang. "I like helping out," she said. The Nopiming wildfire was more than 224,000 hectares in size — about five times the area of Winnipeg — as of Sunday, according to the province's most recent fire status report. The fire, which stretches from south of Bird River to north of Bissett, is still out of control. Last week, some residents, cottagers and business owners in the southern part of the park were allowed to return home. Bird, Booster, Flanders and Davidson lakes reopened on Wednesday, along with Provincial Road 315. The sisters said they are passionate about nature and the animals that live there. It was hard for them to see the forest so charred, with few animals roaming around the burned-out woods, they said. "It's all burned. It just looks pretty sad over there…." Heather said. "It was sad to see how much that has been burnt," Delilah added. The crew the Andersons were in was tasked with putting out hotspots, taking special care to check low-lying areas where the flames could use underground roots to spread further. They also pulled 40-kilogram hoses from one site to the next, helping their team and others get water on the fire where it was most needed. "It's kind of hard on your back when you're pulling back the hoses," Heather said. "I heard that my crew was the fastest workers because we moved two different locations within three days," Heather said. "We have a pretty strong crew," Delilah said. The sisters returned home over the weekend, after being on the ground for about a week. A family emergency forced them to head home early from their 20-day deployment. However, they'll be back on the front lines for another 20-day stint starting on July 7. The Andersons were the only women on their crew, but they hope to inspire more young women and girls to be trained as firefighters and join them on the front lines. "There's just a lot of young girls in the community that I want them to see what they're capable of…. When they see me, I want them to think that they could do it as well," Delilah said, adding that their family members are extremely proud of her and her sister. Although Delilah says it's hard to be away from her three young children and the rest of her family, she's looking forward to returning to the strong bonds she and Heather built in Bissett. "You're making a second family out there with the crew members that you have," Delilah said. Sisters hope to inspire others while fighting Manitoba wildfires 8 minutes ago Duration 2:01 Two sisters in their 20s are among the hundreds of personnel fighting fires in Manitoba. Delilah and Heather Anderson say they hope other young women see what they do and put their minds to anything they want.
CBC
17-02-2025
- CBC
RCMP didn't check site of fatal house fire until relatives found remains: Pinaymootang resident
Social Sharing A Pinaymootang First Nation resident says RCMP dismissed his family's concerns and didn't check for the body of an unaccounted loved one after that person's home was gutted in a fire. Emergency crews were called on Feb. 7 to the community, just Highway 6 about 200 kilometres north of Winnipeg. The residence was destroyed by the fire, which RCMP have since deemed suspicious. But Clifford Anderson said police didn't bother to check the site after the flames were put out, even after his family said someone might have been inside when the fire broke out. Anderson said a young adult man, the foster son to his sister-in-law, was living in the home at the time. On the night of the fire, relatives tried to call the man's cell phone without any success in reaching him. So Anderson's family told an RCMP officer standing outside the home they believed the man was possibly still inside. Anderson said the officer brushed off the concerns, saying police had already looked around the home and nobody was found. "This was while the house was fully engulfed. From where we were, we were standing there about 50 yards away, the heat was almost unbearable from the house. And here the RCMP member said that he looked around," Anderson said. "How could you … when that house was still burning?" 'Bones sticking out of the ashes' Anderson said the officer stayed at the site until 11 p.m. The house was still burning in some sections while firefighters continued battling the blaze. The following two days — Saturday and Sunday — Anderson drove by the home but there wasn't any police presence either day, he said. "Nobody [was] guarding the scene. Nobody [was] guarding the driveway," he said. He and his brother decided to look through the rubble themselves. Anderson went along the east side of the home while his brother searched the west. "Right where we met … I noticed the bones sticking out of the ashes," he said. They called RCMP, who came to the scene and photographed the bones. The officer later told them those were, in fact, human remains, he said. "If it wasn't for us going there, I don't know what would have happened," Anderson said. "Maybe those bones would have been lost forever." CBC News reached out to the RCMP for comment, but hasn't received a response. SCO, chief call for better policing The Southern Chiefs' Organization, which represents 32 Manitoba First Nations, including Pinaymootang, is calling for better policing and public safety in the community. A week before fatal fire, a 50-year-old woman died after being found in medical distress outside a home. Autopsy results indicate April Woodhouse, who was discovered to be covered in bruises, didn't die from exposure to the cold or from injuries. Her family has been pushing for her death to be investigated as a homicide. "SCO is deeply concerned about the frequency of these horrific incidents and the perceived lack of investigation by the RCMP," the organization said in a statement released on Saturday. The organization also demanded an increase in police and safety patrol options for the community. They are also asking the province to train more First Nation safety officers, who work in tandem with local policing authorities. "My sincere hope is that the deaths of our relations in Pinaymootang will not be in vain and that we devote our energy to doing all that we can to ensure these kinds of incidents never happen again," SCO Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said in the statement. CBC News reached out to Pinaymootang Chief Kurvis Anderson for comment but he declined, given the RCMP's investigations into both deaths are still ongoing. However, in the statement from SCO, Kurvis Anderson called on all levels of government to work with the community to find solutions for "this incredibly difficult time." "There is an obvious need to explore all avenues of increased policing and the overall safety for my people," he said.
