Eight families have been displaced after their home was destroyed by a fire on the Mosquito-Grizzly Bear’s Head-Lean Man (MGBHLM) First Nation. An eight-plex that housed 31 people in the community caught on fire on Monday, April 24, 2023.
Elbert Curley was napping with his four-month-old daughter when his nieces woke up him to tell him the building was on fire.
“I opened the door and … I seen lots of black smoke. It was windy, the way that wind was howling,” he said.
“They took (us) out of there and the (building) engulfed in flames … I lost everything. I lost all my memories, my pictures, my tools. Now today, I feel so lost.”
Curley isn’t the only one who is feeling displaced. His neighbour Amelia Young says witnessing her home go up in flames traumatized her and it’s having an effect on her mental health.
“I’m having trouble sleeping. Every morning I wake up feeling so hurt and confused,” she said. “I always want to cry. I feel (so) emotional.“
Community members and neighbouring nations stepped up to help the families safely evacuate the burning building. MGBHLM Chief Tanya Aguilar-Antiman said volunteers who were not properly equipped did everything to take put out the structural fire.
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“We had volunteer firefighters there and (it) was very limited on what we could do as far as the resources that we had,” said Chief Aguilar-Antiman.
“We had Battleford Fire Department come … 45 minutes into the flames and there was no saving the eight-plex.”
All the residents of the eight-plex got out safely but Chief Aguilar-Antiman said if the community had its own fire hall, she believes the fire could have been contained.
“Our nation has contributed X amount of dollars to a fire hall, and it’s four and a half years. And we’re still waiting,” she said.
“We have our own source (of) revenue … it’s just a slow process, but that’s something that we share with Indigenous Services that we need to move on this.”
Young, Curley and all the tenants at the eight-plex are being housed at a hotel provided by Red Cross for a couple days. Then the MGBHLM First Nation will open up their 20-unit wellness centre which was used for a COVID-19 isolation centre.
Chief Aguilar-Antiman said the community plans to rebuild individual units for those who are displaced due to the fire.
“We had an emergency meeting with Indigenous Services Canada, the Federation of Sovereign Nations and the Battleford Agency Tribal Chiefs … (to) discuss (on) moving forward and the next steps,” she said.
“That is definitely something that I feel confident with all those parties, that we will be able to have our families in their own dwelling (in) their own home. Our goal is September of this year.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown and is currently being investigated by authorities. MGBHLM First Nation is over 150 km northwest of Saskatoon.
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