PIKANGIKUM — The power transmission company that services a number of remote northern Ontario First Nations says its infrastructure was damaged in ongoing forest fires, resulting in six communities losing access to electricity from the province’s hydro grid.
But officials with Wataynikaneyap Power say they are targeting “end of the day” on Tuesday July 15 for power restoration.
In an update posted to its website on Tuesday, Wataynikaneyap Power said that damage occurred to several wooden poles early in the morning on July 12 along the company’s stretch of line between Red Lake and Pikangikum. The fire, known as Red Lake 62, was listed as being over 30,000 hectares in size Tuesday afternoon and was still not under control.
The affected First Nations include Pikangikum, Deer Lake, Sandy Lake, Poplar Hill, North Spirit Lake, and Keewaywin. Sandy Lake and Deer Lake have backup power, the company said, while the rest do not.
“There is a growing concern with the threat to many of our remote communities,” Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler was quoted as saying in a media release issued on Monday.
“Our hearts are with our families and relations who have been forced to evacuate and those who remain under threat of these devastating fires.”
Fiddler’s statement also pointed to communications systems also being compromised due to breaks in broadband fibreoptic network.
“Wataynikaneyap Power, the Ontario (Ministry of Natural Resources), Hydro One, and the Provincial Emergency Response Organization (PEOC) are working together to safely organize crews and material for pole replacements,” Watay Power’s update said.
“Ground crews started mobilizing on Sunday morning to prepare and begin the replacement work. Crews are prioritizing poles based on criticality to restore power,” it continued, adding that additional crews arrived Monday and were also scheduled to arrive Tuesday.
Chris Marchand, a public information officer with the Ministry of Natural Resources, told Dougall Media Red Lake 62 remains about eight kilometres south of Pikangikum.
Marchand said fire ranger crews, heavy equipment and numerous aircraft are working on the fire.
“More crews are going to be flowing into the area over the coming days to staff Red Lake 62 and several other fires that are affecting communities in the far north of the Red Lake fire management area,” he said in an interview late Monday afternoon.
Watay Power said worker safety and power restoration are both top priorities.
“There are a lot of risks to this plan, including logistics around lodging far from the work sites, moving crews around by air, weather affecting flights, risk of additional damage needing to be fixed, etc...”
Margaret Kenequanash, Watay Power’s CEO, was not available for an interview on Tuesday.
The transmission company and NAN both said emergency delivery of food and other supplies to the affected First Nations were being set up. These efforts, Watay Power said, included itself, NAN, the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Council and federal authorities.
“Many of our communities have been threatened by wildfire this season and we are grateful for the support they have received from various levels of government,” Fiddler’s statement said, adding that he is also thanking community leadership, firefighters and other emergency responders, other First Nations organizations and host communities.
Another fire, known as Red Lake 40, is also within 10 kilometres of North Spirit Lake First Nation — one of the communities affected by the outage.
Marchand said sprinklers have been set up there and crews are “testing them for gaps and for their effectiveness.”
“In the near term, firefighters will establish hose lines on the fire's northern perimeter to prevent the spread of that fire towards North Spirit Lake.”
-With files from Justin Hardy and Jonathan Wilson.
