Evacuation continues at Fort Albany as wildfire now threatens power line in far northern Ontario
Fort Albany continues to evacuate with a wildfire still out of control dangerously close to the community on northern Ontario’s James Bay Coast.
About 500 people who were rushed out Wednesday as the fire spread to the First Nation have now been transferred to hotels in the towns of Kapuskasing and Val Rita.
The approximately 200 remaining at Fort Albany began an airlift on Thursday evening.
Deputy Chief Terry Metatawabin said one of the main concerns now is how close the flames are to the water main that supplies electricity to Fort Albany, as well as the communities of Kashechewan and Attawapiskat.
Ontario’s Department of Natural Resources and Forestry is employing ground crews on the 300-acre fire near Fort Albany, along with water bombers to help contain it.
“The situation is still serious,” he said in a live video on Facebook on Thursday night.
“We just ask for your prayers for this fire crew who are literally, literally putting out the fire to make sure the power line is not disrupted. As it gets closer, we need to cut the power.”
Heavy smoke continues to blanket Fort Albany and the nearby Kashechewan First Nation, where Chief Gaius Wesley said everything is “orange.”
He hopes to evacuate the elderly, children and others who are having trouble breathing, without taking away planes needed to get people out of Fort Albany.
“We need a lot of planes. And we also need military air support to get our people away from our communities. And it’s been very slow,” Wesley said, adding that the federal and state governments are “doing their best” to help .
Ontario’s Department of Natural Resources and Forestry has ground crews working on the 300-acre blaze near Fort Albany, as well as water bombers and a newly arrived heavy helicopter, but the weather forecast continues to work against them.
“As temperatures are still expected to be well above 30 degrees, we know in recent days that certain areas in the far north have had temperatures in excess of 45 degrees with the humidex, which is quite warm,” said firefighter spokesperson Isabelle. Chenard.
“So that played a role in increasing that fire behavior.”
