Fisher River Cree Nation, Gimli’s Evergreen Basic Needs providing back-up support
With out-of-control wildfires in Manitoba having forced about 17,000 people from their homes last week – with even more evacuated on the weekend – and burned thousands of hectares of land, First Nations and other communities in the Interlake are stepping up to help support people fleeing the disaster.
As wildfires intensified last week, Peguis First Nation proactively offered to house up to 300 evacuees. By last Friday afternoon, the First Nation community had about 65 evacuees staying in its arena.
Peguis’ northern neighbour, Fisher River Cree Nation, and Gimli’s Evergreen Basic Needs also stepped up to provide assistance to the evacuees who’ve been offered safe harbour in Peguis.
Peguis Emergency Operations Centre’s (PEOC) emergency management coordinator Marjorie Nielsen said she reached out last week to her counterparts at the provincial Emergency Measures Organization with an offer from Peguis to help shelter evacuees from the north.
“We volunteered to take people in. I phoned and asked if they needed a place for people to come,” said Nielsen last Friday afternoon by phone as she and other staff were busy coordinating the humanitarian relief effort and organizing the shelter at the Peguis Multiplex Centre. “The maximum number of people I said we could take was 300. Right now, we have 65 evacuees, but there’s supposed to be more coming today. I don’t know where the people are coming from, but it could either be Flin Flon, Cross Lake, Norway House or Pukatawagan. We were asked if we wanted to shelter people from a specific area, but it doesn’t matter to us where the people come from.”
The PEOC coordinates responses to natural disasters and other emergencies to prevent or minimize the loss of life and property, prevent damage to the environment and the restoration of essential services.
The province declared a state of emergency last week. There were 22 active wildfires burning across the province as of last Thursday. Premier Wab Kinew said he expects more people from northern Manitoba to be evacuated and sent to communities around the province, with the majority coming to Winnipeg.
On Saturday, a mandatory evacuation was underway for about 430 people in Cranberry Portage after fire destroyed power lines overnight, caused deteriorating air quality and closed part of Highway 10, according to media reports.
Nielsen said some of the evacuees that arrived in Peguis said they’re homesick while others are glad to be away as they didn’t sleep while fires were threatening their communities.
“People are really lonesome for home; some are saying they want to go home. And others are saying they never slept for two days,” she said.
Peguis’ humanitarian assistance is being supported by Fisher River Cree Nation, which has offered a number of free services to help the evacuees with practical matters such as laundry, as well as recreational activities.
“Fisher River is offering free laundromat service to our evacuees because they’ll have bedding that will eventually need to be washed, plus towels and their clothing,” said Nielsen. “Fisher River’s coordinator is also offering free recreation services for evacuees.”
Those recreational services include a bowling alley, pool tables, darts, inflatables, indoor basketball nets, outdoor rink, baseball diamond, Netflix, television and a couch area, a play park, beach volleyball, golf, a skate park and horseshoe pits. Evacuees arriving by vehicle can also get a free car wash in Fisher River.
And Peguis itself will be providing a number of additional services to evacuees to keep their minds off the fires.
“Our recreational staff person on Peguis is pretty darn awesome,” she said. “He’s set up a big-screen TV for movies for the kids and is working on transportation to get them to the beach. Plus we have an arcade, Xbox and Nintendo, pool tables, rollerblade floor hockey and basketball nets. Our recreational department is also offering to take people on outings. We have our own baseball field and volleyball courts here too.”
The Evergreen Basic Needs food bank and second-hand store in Gimli sprang into action when it heard Peguis had offered to take in up to 300 evacuees and needed items such as bedding and towels.
EBN executive director Karen Bowman said she rounded up the items, and local restaurant Carlo’s Cucina offered to get it up to Peguis, which is about 124 kilometres north of Gimli.
“We’re going to be taking some boxes over to Carlo’s, who’s arranging to transport it to Peguis,” said Bowman last Friday.
When asked what EBN could provide to the RM of Gimli should it offer to house evacuees in the municipality, Bowman said she was trying to determine what its needs are.
“We know the Red Cross is involved and other organizations such as emergency measures and they will coordinate responses. But I don’t know what they cover,” she said. “At this point, EBN is saying [to the municipality] to let us know what you need, and if we can help you we will. If we’re asked to help with food on a short-term basis, we’d be available to do that,”
She said she was able to speak with Gimli councillor Andy Damm to see whether the RM could use back-up support.
“I let [councillor Damm] know that the RM can keep EBN in mind if there’s anything we can do to help,” said Bowman. “We’re ready and willing to help with whatever the RM might need; we will do our part.”
The Express reached out to the RM of Gimli, asking whether the municipality is planning to offer space to wildfire evacuees, but didn’t receive a response.
The paper reached councillor Andy Damm, who was attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ conference in Ottawa last week. He said he and his three fellow councillors want to do what they can in the face of this quickly evolving humanitarian crisis.
“Gimli is acutely aware of the rapidly spreading fires and the devastating effect they’re having on our fellow Manitobans. Gimli has an airport and road links, and we could possibly source accommodations through local establishments and use the dormitory [an RM-owned facility with bedrooms, kitchen etc.] if given the go-ahead,” said Damm. “My three fellow councillors have indicated they are on board with whatever Gimli can offer, and I’m proud to be associated with them and [appreciate their willingness] to try to help Manitobans in need during these difficult times.”
The provincial government told the Express it’s in the process of exploring housing options for evacuees.
“The province is exploring all kinds of scenarios for housing evacuees. Evacuees are all over the province, many have chosen to stay with friends and family, others are in hotels around the province (Dauphin, Brandon, Winnipeg, etc),” said a spokesperson.
Nielsen said some of the evacuees that arrived in Peguis have health-care needs that require a little bit more attention.
A child with autism was evacuated with his grandmother, and she’s afraid to sleep at night in the arena because he might wander off. Nielsen might be able to set them up inside a dressing room as it has a door. They’ve also had some babies arrive on Thursday night who were ill, one throwing up and another with diarrhea that required Pampers of a certain size they didn’t have.
The band’s SunLodge Village, which offers space for traditional Indigenous teachings, celebrations and other events, is housing some elderly evacuees in its bunkhouse cabins. One man had required nursing attention because the cot in the arena was too hard for him.
Nielsen said they needed strollers and playpens on Friday morning and a call was put out. Now she’s looking for donations of small tents and/or room dividers or privacy screens.
“I have people situated in the middle of the rink and our arena lights don’t fully dim. A lot of the evacuees were saying it’s too bright so I’m thinking we need small tents they can set up inside the arena so they’ll have some shade and can sleep better. That would also give them some privacy. We have no wall dividers,” she said.
Inquiries and offers of assistance can be directed to Peguis’ emergency coordinator Marjorie Nielsen by email: emergency.coord@peguis.ca
