Wildfire evacuation plans on reserves could reduce stragglers by keeping closer to home, U of A researcher says
0118 January 2019
Published by https://www.thestar.com/
EDMONTON—Abandoning home to escape disaster can save lives, but the toll of an emergency upheaval can hinder evacuation efforts, particularly for those living on reserves, a new study finds.
Tara McGee, a human geography professor at the University of Alberta, interviewed members of the Mishkeegogamang Ojibway Nation in northwestern Ontario, about a 500-kilometre drive north of Thunder Bay, to study the community’s reaction to a wildfire evacuation in June 2011.
Research examining wildfire evacuations in Canada between 1980 and 2007 found that a third of all evacuations involved First Nation reserves, Métis settlements and areas where the population was made up mainly of First Nations or Métis people.
While many studies have sought to understand why people want to or choose to stay behind after fire evacuation orders, few of these studies have considered Indigenous communities, McGee said.
“We were interested in finding out about First Nation residents and community experiences in wildfire evacuations to try to come up with recommendations for how negative impacts associated with those evacuations could be reduced,” McGee said.
According to the study, a 30,000-hectare wildfire was burning 15 km away at the time, and hazardous smoke wafting into the community prompted a full evacuation. The designated host communities were Sioux Lookout and Ignace, both more than 200 kilometres away, and Geraldton, more than 760 kilometres away.
Of the 21 residents interviewed, five said they did not want to leave and, in some cases, actively tried to stay behind. Another five remained on the reserve or nearby, only leaving after they were escorted out by police.
Among the reasons for wanting to stay, McGee found, was the desire to continue hunting and fishing freely, and the concern that staying in a town or evacuation centre wouldn’t feel like home.
One of the challenges of evacuating Indigenous communities, she added, is that there are strong extended family connections in the community — connections that would be stretched thin if members are spread out among the host locations.
“Trying to keep families together is really important because they do obtain support from family members,” she said, noting not all would have had easy access to communication technologies at the time. “They could be sent out to different communities and may not be able to locate their family members.”
To help dampen concerns that might lead someone to stay behind, the study recommended emergency managers in those communities consider evacuating residents to areas within their traditional territory so long they can do so safely, without having to suffer hazards like smoke.
That way, McGee added, “They wouldn’t have to leave because the territory is home for them.”
Another option, the study suggested, is to arrange for accommodations with neighbouring or nearby Indigenous communities that could provide “culturally appropriate accommodation, assistance and support.”
That’s what the First Nations Wildfire Evacuation Partnership, a collaboration between First Nation groups, academics and government agencies, found from the July 2012 evacuation experiences of the Meander River Dene Tha’ First Nation.
According to research by the partnership, of which McGee is a member, one of the host locations for that evacuation included Bushe River, another Dene Tha’ settlement on a different reserve where evacuees could stay with family, friends or at campsites along the river.
After meeting with community members to learn about their experiences, researchers learned that moving to a familiar host community eased some of the disruption caused by the evacuation.
Dene Tha’ Chief James Ahnassay said that while most of the evacuees stayed in the town of High Level, about 70 kilometres south of Meander River, having the Bushe River reserve just outside of town was helpful for those seeking the comfort of kin in the face of an emergency.
“Their choice was to stay with their families, which is good because then they’re in that environment of being with family,” he said of those that chose to hold up in Bushe River. “It’s a difficult experience being taken away from your home.”
And while Ahnassay agreed that some of the recommendations posed in the study hold water in Alberta, he noted no two communities — or wildfires — are alike, and measures to reduce the stress or improve compliance with an evacuation order need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
“Some of them will be happy that they have family in Bushe River, and that’s where they prefer to stay, but you can’t expect them to all pile into a home that may have a full house,” Ahnassay added. “It’s all about the individual family dynamics.”
