‘Proud’ family mourns firefighter who died at site of Quebec blaze
Isaiah Nottaway, commonly referred to as “Ziggy,” spent his 32nd birthday fighting a fire. It was his first assignment as a firefighter, and the last birthday he’d ever have.
Nottaway died Sunday at the scene of a forest fire in the area of Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette, although the cause of death does not look to be connected to fighting the fire.
Nottaway’s relatives said his death creates a large hole in their family as they grieve the loss of a son, nephew, brother and uncle.
“He’s a hero,” said Claudette Commanda, his aunt. “We’re extremely proud.
“He gave his life to protect others from this raging fire.”
Commanda said her nephew was a proud member of the Algonquin Kitigan Zibi community, who enjoyed music, sports and especially the outdoors — he was an avid fisherman.
“He grew up with a very immense Anishinaabe Algonquin culture,” she said. “Living with the land and living off the land.”
Commanda said he was also a devoted uncle to his sister’s children.
“He just absolutely loved those kids and they absolutely loved their uncle,” she said. “They were his pride and joy.
“Those kids are quite distraught at losing their best friend.”
Nottaway’s mother, Rita Nottaway, said she is heartbroken her son will never have the chance to raise children of his own.
“He was starting to put his life together — I was happy — he wanted to have children,” she said. Commanda said the thing she may miss most about her nephew was his smile.
“He had a beautiful smile,” she said. “Anytime we saw him and he smiled, he made our day.”
“Isaiah now walks with the ancestors and he’ll take his rightful place amongst the stars to watch over us and to help us,” Commanda continued.
Nottaway was a firefighter with the Algonquin community Kitigan Zibi, which was working alongside its partner organization the Société de protection des forêts contre le feu (SOPFEU) to fight the fire in the Outaouais.
The circumstances of his death remain unclear. MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais police announced Monday that “for the moment, nothing in the investigation suggests that there could be any connection with the work (of fighting the fire), but the inquiry will continue with the goal of finding the causes and circumstances of death.”
Marie-Louise Harvey, a spokeswoman for SOPFEU said the cause of death is being investigated by a coroner and no new details were available as of Friday afternoon.
“The young worker lost consciousness (but) causes are unknown at the moment,” SOPFEU said in a previous interview.
Harvey said the fire Nottaway fought in the Outaouais is contained, although it was still not extinguished Friday. She said 17 firefighters remain on the ground as a 10-by-eight-hectare area continues to burn, but it is expected to be extinguished over the next few days.