More than 40 people in a northern Manitoba First Nation are displaced, and the eight apartments they called home are gone. But a teen in the community is being hailed a hero for risking her life to save others.
Families are overwhelmed by the total loss of an apartment building that caught fire Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m., Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Tara Beardy said Monday.
“They’re hurting. They’re devastated,” Beardy told Global News. “It happened so very quickly.”
The flames began on the second floor, and right away, community members rallied to help, including a 17-year-old girl who was on her way to work, she said.
“She immediately ran up to see if there was anybody in there, and there was a family in there: a mother and her children,” Beardy said.
“She helped them, get the children out.”
The teen, along with a two-year-old she helped save, were airlifted to Winnipeg — about 700 km southwest of the community — after she lost consciousness due to smoke inhalation, Beardy said. The toddler’s since been transferred to Edmonton, she continued.
Both are in critical but stable condition, Manitoba RCMP said in a release Monday.
Complex could have been saved with functioning local fire truck: chief
Additional crews from Gillam and York Factory First Nation (YFFN) also helped local teams put out the blaze, which was threatening another apartment complex.
Volunteer firefighter Corinne Chapman said it took the York Factory trucks about 45 minutes to get there by winter road, and the ones from Gillam, about 90 minutes.
“We were there for 11 hours, and then we got called back (Sunday) because it started flaring up, and we were there for 12 hours,” Chapman told Global News on Monday.
“It was devastating. I was devastated for the families.”
Without the winter roads, help from YFFN wouldn’t have arrived as quickly, Chapman said.
Tataskweyak’s only fire truck was down because of mechanical problems, Beardy said.
“I’m pretty sure if we had a fire truck, the whole apartment complex wouldn’t have burned down,” she said.
Now, 10 families are grappling with the horror of losing their life’s belongings, some crowding in with other families, some living out of a hotel with limited kitchen space, Beardy said.
“They’re already running into issues with like, you know, ‘Where am I going to store my food for my baby’s formula? Where? How do I warm up the food?'” she said.
“We already had a housing crisis in our community, and this makes it much worse,” Beardy said.
“It’s very heartbreaking, and it’s very challenging.
Beardy says she’s in touch with Indigenous Services Canada about long-term housing solutions.
In the meantime, Tataskweyak is asking for donations online along with household items, such as cleaning supplies and toiletries. The community’s already received enough clothing, Beardy said.
“We don’t know how long they’re going to stay in the hotel, but we want to buy them little refrigerators for their room because our hotel doesn’t have that here, and the rooms don’t even have microwaves.”
Mounties say the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.