Large wildfires fueled by dry conditions in early July forced many Indigenous people to flee from their camps because of the fires and smokey conditions.
These wildfires have grown quickly and have devoured lots of forestland in Canada. The fire and smoke keep catching up with Indigenous people who have been forced to flee multiple times because of the fire. People having to flee have been in tense positions, having to seek refuge in hotels or gyms to keep safe from the smoke and fire.
The Billy-Diamond Highway is a lonely road in northern Quebec and many people tried to escape the fire through it before an evacuation order was sent out. Even on the road, it was still very dangerous for escaping residents due to the smoke and the high wind speeds.
Hundreds of Canadian wildfires have burned more than 47,000 square miles of forest. The fires have also caused over 25,000 indigenous residents to flee. This is mainly because Indigenous camps usually rely on the forest for shelter and food , thus living so close makes the fires especially threatening.
Due to the fires, lots of smoke plumes and clouds have drifted over to the US, where air pollution was a serious problem, reaching hazardous levels in some places.
The Cree community is an indigenous community. Lots of their camps and sites have been engulfed by the fire and the people have been forced to flee multiple times already due to the fast fire catching up. Many were airlifted out or took a bus ride to safety.
William Wapachee, a Cree member on a bus ride, had trouble breathing and was rushed to be given clean oxygen. “I inhaled too much of that smoke,” Mr. Wapachee said. “Before, if we had a fire, it was only in one place,” he added. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Mandy Gull-Masty, who in 2021 became the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree Nation in Quebec. “Never has that happened before.”
Ms. Gull-Masty says that she feels like a fleeing refuge and things are out of control.
Luckily, nobody has been killed by the fires, but many homes have been destroyed, or people were forced to abandon them. The ecosystem has also been damaged, which disrupted the Cree way of life of fishing, hunting, and gathering.
Even though many attempts have been made to stop or put out the fires, they all have failed and fires just keep bouncing back up. Mr. Black, who is a fire chief, has already called for a full evacuation. He says that things are getting difficult and dark.
Climate change has been a big factor in these fires because it caused the dry conditions to occur, which fueled the fire. This fire season is the largest one ever recorded, with over 25 million acres burned and many more affected.
Sources: Canada Is Ravaged by Fire. No One Has Paid More Dearly Than Indigenous People
Indigenous Fire Practices Shape our Land – Fire (U.S. National Park Service).
These wildfires have grown quickly and have devoured lots of forestland in Canada. The fire and smoke keep catching up with Indigenous people who have been forced to flee multiple times because of the fire. People having to flee have been in tense positions, having to seek refuge in hotels or gyms to keep safe from the smoke and fire.
The Billy-Diamond Highway is a lonely road in northern Quebec and many people tried to escape the fire through it before an evacuation order was sent out. Even on the road, it was still very dangerous for escaping residents due to the smoke and the high wind speeds.
Hundreds of Canadian wildfires have burned more than 47,000 square miles of forest. The fires have also caused over 25,000 indigenous residents to flee. This is mainly because Indigenous camps usually rely on the forest for shelter and food , thus living so close makes the fires especially threatening.
Due to the fires, lots of smoke plumes and clouds have drifted over to the US, where air pollution was a serious problem, reaching hazardous levels in some places.
The Cree community is an indigenous community. Lots of their camps and sites have been engulfed by the fire and the people have been forced to flee multiple times already due to the fast fire catching up. Many were airlifted out or took a bus ride to safety.
William Wapachee, a Cree member on a bus ride, had trouble breathing and was rushed to be given clean oxygen. “I inhaled too much of that smoke,” Mr. Wapachee said. “Before, if we had a fire, it was only in one place,” he added. “Now it seems to be a fire here, a fire there, fire everywhere.”
“I’ve never seen that level of evacuation in Cree Nation, simultaneous communities all at once,” said Mandy Gull-Masty, who in 2021 became the first woman elected grand chief of the Cree Nation in Quebec. “Never has that happened before.”
Ms. Gull-Masty says that she feels like a fleeing refuge and things are out of control.
Luckily, nobody has been killed by the fires, but many homes have been destroyed, or people were forced to abandon them. The ecosystem has also been damaged, which disrupted the Cree way of life of fishing, hunting, and gathering.
Even though many attempts have been made to stop or put out the fires, they all have failed and fires just keep bouncing back up. Mr. Black, who is a fire chief, has already called for a full evacuation. He says that things are getting difficult and dark.
Climate change has been a big factor in these fires because it caused the dry conditions to occur, which fueled the fire. This fire season is the largest one ever recorded, with over 25 million acres burned and many more affected.
Sources: Canada Is Ravaged by Fire. No One Has Paid More Dearly Than Indigenous People
Indigenous Fire Practices Shape our Land – Fire (U.S. National Park Service).
