Pikangikum fire highlights dire conditions faced by First Nations, grand chief says

The house fire that killed nine people in Pikangikum is a recurring nightmare for people who live on remotenorthern First Nations, says a Manitoba grand chief.

"My first thought was, not again,"Sheila North-Wilson said when she heard about theTuesday nightfire that took the lives ofthree children andsix adults in the northwestern Ontariocommunity.

"There's too many lives being lost and [others] at risk right now."

North-Wilson, who heads upManitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which representsnorthern Manitoba First Nations, says poor housing conditions and subpar building materials are often to blame.

"There are so many homes that are not up to code and up to the standards that anyone outside of the communities would expect for fire safety," she said.

"There are potentially hundreds of homes across our north, including Ontario, Manitoba and other provinces, that are hazardous, and we see it every once in a while popping up with tragedies like this."

In December, three people died after a home caught fire inNorth-Wilson's home community of Oxford House.

• Manitoba First Nation house fire kills 3, including father, son and cousin
• First Nations 10 times more likely to die in house fires: report

Making matters worse, many remote First Nations homesdo nothave running water tohelp fight fires, North-Wilson said.

Many homes don't have access to fire hydrants and some communities don't even have fire trucks. Those with trucksoften need to fill them from a nearby river or lake if there are no hydrants nearby, she said.

And even if there are trucks and water,getting to homes can be a challenge. The roads are in rough condition or toomuddy for the equipment to get down.

Sweeping changes need to bemade to improve the conditions on reserves,but in a more immediate timeframe, a positiveimpact could be made by changing homeconstruction, North-Wilsonsaid.

"Change all the old wood panelling and the glue that is currently in a lot of the older homes in our communities, and change it to drywall," she said.

"At least if there was a fire sparked, it wouldn't ignite as fastas the current clapboard and glue."

• Deadly Pikangikum fire prompts call for inquiry from Ontario First Nations firefighters

North-Wilson is in full support of the call for an inquest into fatal fires in Canada's indigenous communities.

The suggestion was made Thursday by Steve Nolan,thepresident of the Ontario Native Firefighters Society. Nolantold CBC News he wants to see the issue examined more closely.

While many indigenous communities have working agreements with fire services in neighbouring municipalities, that option isn't available to remote, fly-in communities like Pikangikum, he said.

An inquest into the matter "is very necessary and long overdue," said North-Wilson.

It would identify the bigger problems on reserves and lead to some solutions, while also educating the general public about the situationfaced by so many people.

"There's so many people that have so many misconceptions about why this keeps happening," she said.

"They think that we're purposely trying to go into our homes and overcrowd them or purposely letting our houses run downwhen really, there is a lack of resources. [People] don't have enough money or supplies to even repair broken down windows or doors that need to be fixed or replaced."

Pikangikuminvestigation

Ontario Provincial Police(OPP) Const. Diana Cole said the investigation into the cause ofthe Pikangikumfire, which remains undetermined, is being conducted by the OPP, Office of the Fire Marshal and the regional coroner.

"Today we're going to begin the physical and forensic examination of the scene," she said, noting that officers will siftthrough the rubble and lookfor physical and forensic clues.

"Over the next several days the investigation is going to entail a very detailed and systematic process of the scene."

The names of the victims won't be released publicly until autopsies are complete and next of kin have been notified.