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The far northern Ontario Cree community hopes to receive a fire truck next week. It will be two months after a child dies in a fire.
In late January, a 10-year-old girl in the Peawanuck area died in a house fire. At the time, the community of around 200 people near the Hudson Bay coast had no access to fireworks or basic electrical equipment.
Sam Hunter, a councilor with the Weenusk First Nation, which includes Peawanuck, said the fire truck has been ready for a week, and they are just waiting for the winter road to the area to be ready so the vehicle can be in Winnipeg to Winnipeg . society
“We will be very safe in having a large fire truck, that will have enough water to be able to put out the fire, especially with the size of the houses we have there under 1,000 square feet,” Hunter said.
Hunter said the small county doesn’t have enough equipment to fight house fires.
In 1995, he lost his two sons to a fire.
“You may be able to save my boys. We have time,” he said.
“If there are future events, it means a lot to me and to the community.”
No hall light yet
Hunter said the district will have to park the fire truck in the vacant store for at least the next year.
The county plans to build a proper fire hall, but still needs to bring in engineers to sign off on their proposed system.
“Sometimes something temporary becomes something that will be used for a long time,” Hunter said.
“We just don’t want that to happen.”
Meanwhile, Hunter said that the district plans for four people to receive training immediately on how to use the electric car, so that they can start using it immediately.
Winnipeg-based Fort Garry Fire Trucks built a fire pumper, and plans for one of their drivers to give it to the community. That driver will also teach local volunteers how to use it.
Bob Lock, the company’s regional sales manager for northern Ontario, said they have delivered similar light trucks to around 31 First Nations across Canada.
He said the model Peawanuck ordered was standard builder equipment that was easy to operate.
“It’s not a big deal,” he said.
“It’s a basic car that will do the job well that they need to do.”
Services Canada purchased the truck for the province in January 2022, at a cost of $506,640.