Three people have been charged with arson in a 2018 wildfire on Little Grand Rapids First Nation that forced more than 2,000 residents of two communities to evacuate.
By the time it was contained, the fire, which started May 21 of last year, had burned 29,000 hectares of forest in Manitoba and 3,000 in Ontario.
The blaze also damaged a kilometre of Hydro line, six homes, an equipment warehouse and a substation on Little Grand Rapids First Nation, 15 buildings at Moar Lake Lodge and five at Fishing Lake Lodge.
The cost of suppressing the fire came to $1.3 million in Manitoba and $500,000 in Ontario.
Damian Deacon Frost Bushie, 19, of Little Grand Rapids, and Ace River Turtle, 20, of Pikangikum, Ont., face charges of arson and leaving a place without ensuring the fire is out. A third suspect faces the same charges but can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
WATCH: Growing wildfire forces full evacuation of Little Grand Rapids