Fire at makeshift clinic forces more Neskantaga residents to flee to Toronto

More than four weeks after Neskantaga First Nation declared a state of emergency over a sewage leak at its nursing station, a space-heater ignited a fire in the temporary health-care building that had been sheltering the community's most vulnerable residents. About 250 of the roughly 400-person community remain in Toronto, while the remaining locals contend with a facility not rated for medical equipment. Indigenous Services Canada officials, including the Ontario regional director general, visited the site and identified a six-inch exterior wall gap and black mould caused by the earlier flood.

Minister Mandy-Gull Masty has been in contact with Chief Gary Quisses, and ISC says it will provide funding and on-the-ground assistance as it assesses longer-term solutions. Neskantaga is weighing options such as using its administrative office, modular units or school trailers for a new temporary clinic, and is pressing for the pre-design stage of a permanent nursing station. Matawa chiefs have called for a mandated working group and for provincial and federal action until the emergency is lifted.