3 generations of First Nations family killed in blaze
• Nine members of one family, including three children under five, have died in a house fire in a remote northern Ontario First Nations community that is no stranger to tragedy.
A res i dent of the Pikangikum First Nation who did not want to be identified said three generations of a family died in the blaze that destroyed their home late Tuesday.
The resident identified the victims as Dean and Annette Strang, their son Gilbert, their daughter Faith, Faith’s three young children and two common-law partners.
Ontario Provincial Police Const. Diana Cole said the fire broke out late Tuesday in the remote community near the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, which has been plagued by suicides.
The cause of the fire is under investigation and police remain on the scene, Cole said.
Alvin Fiddler, grand chief of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which represents First Nations in northern Ontario, said he spoke Wednesday with Pikangikum Chief Dean Owen, who he said sounded exhausted.
“The shock of losing so many people in one tragic event is overwhelming,” Fiddler said. “There’s a tremendous loss and overwhelming grief that all of us are feeling.”
Fiddler de s c r i b ed Pikangikum as “ground zero” when it comes to infrastructure requirements such as housing, access to clean drinking water and the capacity to fight fires.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered his condolences to the community and said his government will work to improve conditions for First Nations people.
“This is not just about the moral, right thing to do. It’s about investing in our shared future in this country,” he said during a visit to Edmonton.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne took to Twitter to offer her condolences to the community.
“My thoughts are with the First Nations community of Pikangikum and those who lost loved ones in last night’s devastating house fire,” Wynne tweeted.
Carolyn Bennett, minister of indigenous and northern affairs, issued a statement Wednesday extending “heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies” to the victims’ families and the community.
“Officials of my department are reaching out to the First Nation to offer our condolences and to identify any support that we can provide to meet the community’s needs,” Bennett said.
Bennett also said federal Health Minister Jane Philpott would be working with local and First Nation leaders, along with the province, to provide a trauma team and to determine what is else will be needed to support the healing process.
Those familiar with the remote fly-in community say the fire is shocking, but not especially surprising.
Deplorable living conditions in Pikangikum have been the subject of public debate for decades. The community’s struggles with poverty and suicide rates have been well documented, but visitors say that awareness has done little to bring about real change.
Joseph Magnet, an Ottawa-based law professor who has represented the community, said he has visited all of the overcrowded homes in Pikangikum.
“You’re dealing with very, very small houses in which you will sometimes have as many as 15 people sharing a single room without toilet facilities, using a bucket, without running water in the house, and without proper cooking facilities,” he said. “It’s a very, very sorry situation that really should have urgent attention.”
The homes “wouldn’ t meet anybody’s fire code regulations,” Magnet said.
Local MP Robert Nault said discussions were ongoing about sending in support to help deal with “the whole issue of mourning.”
Nault said he was to meet Thursday with two health ministers to discuss what he called “the crisis in the North.”
“Not specifically about this incident, but obviously to talk about mental health, health-care delivery, the suicides,” he said. “Pikangikum has the largest suicide rate of any community in the western world … I think over 400 in the last couple of decades.”
The community has also been grappling with a longstanding water contamination issue, Magnet said. A federal government website indicates Pikangikum has been under a boil-water advisory since January 2006.
Kyle Peters, the First Nation’s education director, described the mood in the community as “extremely sad. It’s probably one of the most difficult times.”