Sandy Lake residents evacuated to Cornwall can't wait to go home

Coun. Allan Rae of the Sandy Lake First Nation is 1,600 kilometres from home and worried about his wife and two children.

He hasn't heard from them since he evacuated with members of his community as out-of-control wildfires encroached on Saturday. 

"I think the phone might be out by now," he said on Tuesday, speaking from outside a conference centre in Cornwall, Ont., where 377 evacuees from the remote fly-in community in northwest Ontario are now staying. 

"Somebody needs to look after them," he said of the tough decision to leave his own family to care for evacuated community members who find themselves in an unfamiliar city without knowing when they'll be able to return home. 

Sandy Lake officials issued an evacuation order on Saturday, as the Red Lake 12 wildfire reached within 6.5 kilometres of their community. Evacuation has focused on priority residents including people with health issues and young children, Sandy Lake First Nation Chief Delores Kakegamic told CBC on Sunday.

Fire 'crept in on us'

But the evacuation order had taken many by surprise as the fire approached faster than expected, Rae said.

"I thought I was going to sleep in Saturday, and the forest fire kind of crept in on us during the night," he said. "Then the next thing you know, we were evacuated."

The Canadian Armed Forces have helped evacuate community members, flying them in a CC-130 Hercules aircraft from Sandy Lake to Thunder Bay, about 600 kilometres to the southeast, and then onward to other parts of Ontario.

As of 2 p.m. Tuesday, defence force personnel had evacuated 1,400 people, according to a spokesperson.

Many evacuees left with just the clothes on their backs and without even their medication, according to Rae. 

"They are worried about their homes back home, about the other people, about the personnel that are on the scene, and they're worried about their pets as well," he said.

The first evacuees from Sandy Lake arrived in Cornwall by bus at 4 a.m. Monday, according to Leighton Woods, the city's deputy fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator.

Evacuations to Cornwall are now complete, Woods said, after "reaching our maximum total of 377 guests."

He said the evacuees were tired "and just looking to rest and hopefully get on with their lives and get back to their community when it's safe to do."

Crews battling Red Lake 12 fire

The Canadian Red Cross has been deployed to the Dev Centre in Cornwall to co-ordinate assistance to the evacuees, the city said in a statement, adding that it's working with the Red Cross to arrange child care and activities for children. 

Cooler weather, reduced winds and rain since Sunday have limited the further spread of the Red Lake 12 fire, which is over 156,000 hectares in size, according to the Ontario government's forest fire website. 

FireRanger crews are establishing a perimeter line on the west side of Sandy Lake closest to the fire, according to the forest fire monitor. Crews have also worked to install protective sprinkler systems on buildings and infrastructure within the community. Helicopters have used buckets to douse the flames when weather conditions allow.

Community members evacuated to Cornwall are waiting anxiously and desperate for updates, Rae said.

"Right away they've been asking, 'When are we going back?' I say I don't know."