Thunder Bay is preparing to host 400 Pikangikum evacuees as fires threaten their homes.
It believed there may be another 600 who came to the city on their own.
City Manager Norm Gale notes although they are nearing capacity, they will continue to work with their community partners to ensure everyone is safe.
“We want people to be safe; we want people to get the care they need. We understand the duress they are under; we understand they have been forced from their homes, and they are in a different place. We are here to help, we want to do the best we can, but we have extraordinary constraints on our end, and we appeal for help,” says Gale.
The City Manager adds some services and supports may be limited or unavailable at this time, but the city is doing its best to help everyone fleeing Pikangikum.
Two hundred evacuees arrived in the city Wednesday. Another 100 are expected Friday with another 100 to arrive next Wednesday.
Thunder Bay has been officially under a state of emergency since May. That has allowed it to get help from the provincial government through emergency programs and services.
The city would like more communities in Ontario to step up and become host communities as more fires start to threaten more than one remote community.
The City of Dryden has stated it doesn’t have sufficient room to act as a host community right now.
Sioux Lookout and Lac Seul First Nation are housing evacuees but are also at full capacity.
