'I am not to blame here,' says Little Grand chief about delay in fire evacuations

Leaders of Little Grand Rapids say they asked for help as soon as they learned a fire had been started in their community on Monday.

Chief Raymond Keeper said he's not at fault for evacuations turning into a rescue mission.

"I told them the wind can shift any time, it's better to evacuate while it's still safe," said Keeper on Friday. "They said no, no need, so I am not to blame here."

Keeper said only one councillor was in the community when the fire started; he and the rest of council were in Winnipeg for Tuesday meetings.

He said they asked Indigenous Services Canada to evacuate the vulnerable just before 7 p.m. Monday, but didn't get a response until close to midnight.

"At 11:47 p.m.: 'Hi Clinton, I just received an update from Sustainable Development and the fire has not moved closer to your community. They say they will assess in the morning," said councillor Clinton Keeper reading a text from a federal official.

Previously Indigenous Services Canada said it wasn't contacted by leadership until Tuesday evening. The province said it tried to get a hold of chief and council Monday night, but no one was at the band office.

"They have all of our emails. Anybody gets a hold of me," said the chief.

He said he's tired of being made out to be the bad guy.

On Friday, a spokesperson from Indigenous Services Canada confirmed it was in contact with the leadership throughout Monday.

'We still should have left'

"The chief and council raised questions about the need to evacuate, and based on information from persons with eyes on the fire, Manitoba Sustainable Development advised that an evacuation was not warranted at that time," spokesperson Martine Stevens wrote in an email.

"Well, everything did happen fast, but not from the department or that's what they were kind praising themselves," Keeper said about Minister Jane Philpott's comments on Thursday about successful evacuations.

"Everything happened so fast ... the fire coming in fast and we tried to act as fast as we can, too."

Keeper said he still doesn't know the extent of damage to his community and said he plans on chartering a plane to go make an assessment.

A provincial spokesperson said in an email:  "The province's main concern at this time continues to be to protect the community from the fire. We do not have an estimate on damage right now."

Sasha Keeper, an evacuee from Little Grand Rapids, said she feels the evacuation should have happened earlier. 

"We still should have left, just to be on the safe side and all. But it didn't happen like that," she said.

'To hell and back'

Keeper said it was frightening waiting in the community for help to come, especially with her young daughter, who's four.

"It was scary, man. We went to hell and back, pretty much," she said.

"Everybody was panicking. People were crying, and [asking], 'Are we going to make it out' and all that."

As the fire continues to burn, she's not sure what's waiting for her back home. Initial reports indicate 11 homes have been damaged.

"Right now, I just feel like I just want to go back home, but go back home to what?" she said. "There's no power, nothing like that."

Keeper and more than 1,000 evacuees from the two communities are staying in Winnipeg hotels. The Southern Chiefs Organization is asking for donations from the public to assist them.

"The families are in need of these donations because they left the community with the just the clothes on their back," said Natalie Daniels of SCO. "There were a few families that were allowed to take a bag, but the majority of them left with just the clothes on their back."

The organization is asking for a wide variety of donations, including clothing of all sizes, strollers, diapers, baby wipes and bottles, gift cards, toiletries, underwear and socks. Financial donations would also be appreciated, she said, to provide evacuees with recreation and activities.

"Whatever Winnipeg can pull together for them, it's going to be received with open arms and with a good heart," Daniels said.

Donations are being accepted Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Southern Chiefs Organization at 1572 Dublin Ave., and over the weekend at Shawenim Abinoojii at 1386 Main St.

You can also contact the Southern Chiefs Organization to arrange pickups within city limits.