Snapshots of some fatal fires in First Nation communities
A father and four children are believed to have been killed in a house fire on the Oneida Nation of the Thames First Nation near London, Ont. Here are some other fatal fires that have taken place in First Nation communities in recent years.
___
March 2016 : A fire on the remote Pikangikum First Nation in northern Ontario kills nine. The dead are identified as Dean Strang, 51, Annette Strang, 49, Gilbert Strang, 31, Sylvia Peters, 41, Dietrich Peters, 35, Faith Strang, 24, Ireland Peters, 4, Aubree Strang, 2, and Amber Strang, five months. Ontario’s Regional Chief Isadore Day blamed third-world living conditions for the tragedy, saying Pikangikum had no firefighting services and 95 per cent of homes don’t have running water.
February 2015: Harley Cheenanow, 2, and his 18-month-old sister Haley are killed in a house fire on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan reserve in Saskatchewan. The reserve had a working fire truck, but had never used it, because it wasn’t properly equipped and no one was trained. The band had hired the volunteer fire department in a neighbouring village of Loon Lake, but was cut off from services. The village said the band had stopped paying its bills.