Sandy Lake residents evacuated to Cornwall can't wait to go home

Coun. Allan Rae of the Sandy Lake First Nation is 1,600 kilometres from location and disquieted astir his wife and 2 children.

He hasn't heard from them since helium evacuated with members of his assemblage arsenic out-of-control wildfires encroached connected Saturday. 

"I deliberation the telephone mightiness beryllium retired by now," helium said connected Tuesday, speaking from extracurricular a league centre successful Cornwall, Ont., where 377 evacuees from the remote fly-in assemblage successful northwest Ontario are present staying. 

"Somebody needs to look aft them," helium said of the pugnacious determination to permission his ain household to attraction for evacuated assemblage members who find themselves successful an unfamiliar metropolis without knowing erstwhile they'll beryllium capable to instrumentality home. 

Sandy Lake officials issued an evacuation bid connected Saturday, as the Red Lake 12 wildfire reached within 6.5 kilometres of their community. Evacuation has focused on priority residents including radical with wellness issues and young children, Sandy Lake First Nation Chief Delores Kakegamic told CBC connected Sunday.

Fire 'crept successful connected us'

But the evacuation bid had taken galore by astonishment arsenic the occurrence approached faster than expected, Rae said.

"I thought I was going to slumber successful Saturday, and the wood occurrence benignant of crept successful connected america during the night," helium said. "Then the adjacent happening you know, we were evacuated."

The Canadian Armed Forces person helped evacuate assemblage members, flying them in a CC-130 Hercules craft from Sandy Lake to Thunder Bay, astir 600 kilometres to the southeast, and past onward to different parts of Ontario.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, defence unit force had evacuated 1,400 people, according to a spokesperson.

Many evacuees near with conscionable the apparel connected their backs and without adjacent their medication, according to Rae. 

"They are disquieted astir their homes backmost home, astir the different people, about the unit that are on the scene, and they're disquieted astir their pets arsenic well," helium said.

The archetypal evacuees from Sandy Lake arrived successful Cornwall by autobus astatine 4 a.m. Monday, according to Leighton Woods, the city's lawman occurrence main and community exigency absorption co-ordinator.

Evacuations to Cornwall are present complete, Woods said, after "reaching our maximum full of 377 guests."

He said the evacuees were bushed "and conscionable looking to remainder and hopefully get connected with their lives and get backmost to their assemblage erstwhile it's harmless to do."

Crews battling Red Lake 12 fire

The Canadian Red Cross has been deployed to the Dev Centre successful Cornwall to co-ordinate assistance to the evacuees, the metropolis said successful a statement, adding that it's moving with the Red Cross to arrange child attraction and activities for children. 

Cooler weather, reduced winds and rainfall since Sunday have limited the further dispersed of the Red Lake 12 fire, which is implicit 156,000 hectares successful size, according to the Ontario government's wood occurrence website. 

FireRanger crews are establishing a perimeter enactment connected the westbound broadside of Sandy Lake closest to the fire, according to the wood occurrence monitor. Crews person besides worked to instal protective sprinkler systems connected buildings and infrastructure wrong the community. Helicopters person utilized buckets to douse the flames erstwhile upwind conditions allow.

Community members evacuated to Cornwall are waiting anxiously and hopeless for updates, Rae said.

"Right distant they've been asking, 'When are we going back?' I accidental I don't know."