First Nations Leaders Say They Got No Alert Before Wildfires Razed Two Communities

Fast-moving wildfires have burned two First Nations communities in Canada to the ground, with members saying they were left to self-evacuate without government help or emergency alerts.

Thirteen communities in Ontario have been ordered to evacuate because of wildfires, most of them First Nations. The Ontario premier, Doug Ford, told reporters on Monday that close to 2,000 people had been evacuated so far to cities including Toronto and Niagara Falls.

Nearly 1,000 wildfires are burning across Canada, about 200 of them in Ontario. Prime Minister Mark Carney said heatwaves and dry weather had combined to create "one of the most intense wildfire seasons in Canadian history".

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, north of Thunder Bay in north-western Ontario, was engulfed by fire on 15 June. About two dozen people quickly boarded boats packed with their possessions and raced across the nearby lake.

"If this community waited for a mandatory evacuation process, we'd be doing a recovery mission for the bodies of children, of elders, of men and women," said Linda Debassige, grand council chief of the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 39 Ontario First Nations.

All members escaped safely, but the community's buildings and infrastructure were completely destroyed. The Namaygoosisagagun people evacuated to Thunder Bay, where the Anishinabek Nation has been providing assistance.

Debassige said the community's chief, Helen Paavola, had made inquiries to the federal government in the days before the fire, and had been assured there was no imminent threat.

Ford travelled to Thunder Bay over the weekend and said the province was willing to spend whatever was necessary to fight the fires. First Nations leaders, including from the Anishinabek Nation, accused the premier of being unclear about what support the province was actually providing, and of disorganisation in coordinating with First Nations. The CBC has reported that although Ontario spent $271m on emergency firefighting in 2025-26, it plans to spend only $150m in 2026-27.

The exposure is structural. First Nations communities are acutely vulnerable to wildfire in Canada, with 80% of Indigenous communities located in areas more susceptible to fires, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction.

Namaygoosisagagun faces an additional obstacle. Although it is recognised as a nation by many other First Nations, it is still in the process of being officially recognised by the federal government, which makes it harder to access emergency funding. Debassige said Ottawa had agreed to provide funding for now, but that the Anishinabek Nation had to step in with financial support because of delays on the government side.

Reported from the Guardian.