Loomex teams help fight northern wildfires
Peterborough group headed to Dryden earlier this month
The Loomex Group, which manages the Peterborough Airport, has sent a team of locally based emergency responders to northwestern Ontario to help First Nation evacuees forced from their homes due to raging wildfires.
An eight-member team, mostly made up of Peterboroughbased professionals, was deployed to Dryden, Ont. on July 10.
Fast-burning wildfires in the region have triggered several full-scale evacuations, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
On Sunday, there were more than 100 wildfires burning in the province’s northwest region — 30 of them were not under control.
Evacuations have taken place in several Indigenous communities, including Poplar Hill First Nation, Pikangikum First Nation and Deer Lake First Na- tion.
Loomex president and CEO Trent Gervais said members on the ground at the Dryden Regional Airport, also managed by Loomex, have established an air transportation hub to assist evacuees from Deer Lake First Nation.
Deer Lake First Nation residents are being transported by plane to the hub. Once there, evacuees are given food and other essentials, and staff offer medical support while ensuring families aren’t separated, said Gervais.
“We’re just really helping (evacuees) through that transition of coming out of their communities. We’re helping them in the interim until the province gets them to where they’re going,” Gervais said.
Evacuees are then flown to Ottawa before being bused to Cornwall, Gervais said.
He said Loomex is co-ordinating with the provincial government — namely the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre — along with contracted airlines, to ensure impacted residents pass through the transportation hub quickly and safely.
Gervais, who logged more than 100 hours on the job last week, said staff at the hub recognize what evacuees — often frightened and tired — are going through.
“When you’re in such a remote location, sometimes they don’t know where they’re going when they get on that plane. Think of the stress on the evacuees not knowing if their community is going to be there when they get back,” Gervais said.
Leading the hub takes a lot of work — and a lot of coordination, but it’s worth it, said Gervais.
“We feel it’s a privilege to help them. We’re passionate and we take it very seriously,” he said. To help evacuees experiencing distress, Gervais said the Loomex-led transportation hub also offers on-site mental-health supports.
“We do what we can while they’re there with us for a short time.”
Last week, Gervais and his team also set up a would-be evacuation centre in Dryden, which is a host community for evacuees.
Working with the city and other community partners, Gervais said Loomex selected a local school to stand as the potential evacuation centre. If activated, Gervais said staff are standing by to helm the centre. Loomex and its collaborators came together quickly and effectively during a crucial time, Gervais said.
“The City of Dryden was well prepared; they had cots, trailers of supplies. It’s been a great partnership together so far,” said Gervais.
Gervais said the Dryden-based transportation hub had received about 560 evacuees by Sunday. According to the Ontario Government, approximately 845 Deer Lake residents have been evacuated from their community as of Monday.
With the volatile nature of the wildfires, Gervais said it’s hard to tell which community the Loomex Group will be turning its attention to next.
“It will depend on the severity of the fires. Some of the fires are so hot they can’t put firefighters on the ground,” he said.
Gervais said emergency personnel are keeping an eye on Red Lake, a region north of Dryden that’s being threatened by large, encroaching fires.
Later this week, staff currently working at the hub will be rotated out of Dryden and replaced with another eightmember team from Peterborough.
Loomex will continue operating in the area until the wildfires are under control. That could be a week or a monthand-a-half, he said.
Once residents are able to go back to their communities, Gervais said, the Loomex Group will again facilitate a transportation hub for the return trip.
In the meantime, the aviation and aerospace firm is prepared and well-supported by community collaborators and municipal and provincial partners, he said.
“Emergency Management Ontario is doing an incredible job to protect lives. From an emergency perspective, our province should know they are in good hands.”
The Loomex Group, which is contracted by the City of Peterborough to run the Peterborough Airport and the City of Kawartha Lakes to run the City of Kawartha Lakes Airport in Lindsay, manages eight airports in Ontario and Alberta.