MAKWA SAHGAIEHCAN FIRST NATION, Sask. – Two children are dead after an early morning house fire on a Saskatchewan First Nation. It happened Tuesday on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation near Loon Lake.
Mounties were called to the fire around 1:30 a.m. They arrived to find the house engulfed in flames and a father carrying both his 18-month-old girl and two-year-old boy out of the house.
“When they arrived on the scene, they observed that the house was fully engulfed. They observed a male who turned out to be the biological father carrying two children,” said RCMP Sgt. Craig Cleary.
Both children were declared dead at the scene. Their names have not been released at the request of the family.
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At the time of the fire, their parents were out and they were in the care of their grandmother. She made it out of the house unharmed.
“Everybody is coming together and sending prayers,” said Linda Hoff, a Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation member.
“It’s devastating and the question that we all have is how did it happen.”
No other injuries have been reported.
RCMP say they’re still not sure how long the fire had been burning when they were called, or what started it.
“The investigation will hopefully reveal that information,” said Cleary.
“We’ll be able to put a good timeline together and determine how long the fire had been going, and the sequence of events that occurred. That’s along with the assistance of the fire scene investigators. We’ll hopefully be able to make those determinations.”
He confirmed there was no fire department response to this blaze.
Autopsies for the children are scheduled for Thursday in Saskatoon.
READ MORE: Two dead after house fire in northern Sask.
Loon Lake is approximately 310 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
With files from David Giles
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