Manitoba tot dies in blaze

LONG PLAIN FIRST NATION, Man. – It was just two days before Curtis LaPorte’s third birthday, and his parents were planning to surprise him with a new bike and fluffy teddy bear.

That was before a fire tore through the LaPortes’ Long Plain First Nation, Man., home late Saturday night, leaving two-year-old Curtis dead and his father Frank Maytwayashing with severe burns to 37 per cent of his body.

It was the second fatal fire on a Manitoba reserve over the weekend, after 44-year-old Randy Mann died when a fire broke out in his Sagkeeng First Nation home on Friday night.

The deaths have raised concerns over the ability to fight and prevent serious blazes in First Nation communities, where firefighters often have problems accessing water or fire hydrants.

Mother Cheryl LaPorte said she stepped out to buy a bedtime snack for her children around 10 p.m. Saturday night and came home to find her house engulfed in flames. Her partner, 36-year-old Maytwayashing, made it out of the burning home alive with her three-year-old daughter Shaylene and five-year-old son Frankie.

LaPorte said a firefighter found Curtis hiding behind the couch underneath his baby blanket and handed the tot to emergency crews through a window. She ran over to cradle her youngest child, but he stopped breathing just seconds before she could hold him.

"He was crying and you could hear him when (the firefighter) handed him through the window," LaPorte said through tears. "I went running over there and when I got one step away from him he just stopped."

LaPorte said Curtis suffered smoke inhalation, and that the heat was so intense a remote control melted on top of his red sweatpants. RCMP said attempts to resuscitate him failed, and the child died in the ambulance.

LaPorte said fire crews ran out of water while they were trying to fight the blaze, and that the home’s water tank was also empty. As the volunteer fire department scrambled to get more water, she said, a propane tank from the barbecue exploded from the heat, sending flames shooting up through the roof.

LaPorte said two of her children were playing with a lighter, which is believed to have caused the fire.

Maytwayashing ran back inside to rescue the children, LaPorte said, and caught fire after he grabbed two of them. LaPorte said Maytwayashing suffered severe burns to his neck, forcing medical staff to insert a breathing tube in his throat so he can breathe on life support. She said doctors aren’t sure whether he’ll make a full recovery, and that he may have suffered disabling injuries.

"He’ll be here for maybe two months and he might be in a wheelchair when he gets out," LaPorte said, wiping away tears.

The other children who were inside the home suffered minor burns and have since been released from hospital.

The tragedy has stunned the 2,200 residents of Long Plain First Nation, located 100 kilometres west of Winnipeg. Neighbours were shocked by how rapidly the fire spread.

"The flames were shooting so high they couldn’t do anything," said resident Ralph Francis, who saw the house burn from his living room window.

Around 10 p.m. on Friday, Powerview RCMP and the Sagkeeng First Nation fire department rushed to a house fire on the community’s south shore, where Mann was found dead. A second man is in hospital.

Residents recalled Mann as a "pleasant man, and quite well-known around the community." The RCMP and the provincial fire commissioner’s office are investigating the cause of the fire. A funeral for Mann is planned for Tuesday.

Sagkeeng band councillor Joseph Daniels said that house fires were a serious concern on First Nations, as tight resources and aging infrastructure made it increasingly difficult to prevent and fight fires.

"We don’t always have the resources to help upkeep these homes," Daniels said. "Some of these homes are still heated by stoves . . . a lot of communities don’t have running water, and don’t have hydrants. Our reserve is a pretty big reserve . . . we have some fire hydrants, but there’s a lot of places where trucks can’t access the hydrant to fight fires."

LaPorte believes her son could have been saved if the two fire trucks had better access to water.

"He would have been three years old on Tuesday. I had everything (ready) for him," she said. "It’s all burnt. I lost him, I lost him. I won’t even see him on his birthday."