If a big fire hit the Saulteaux First Nation, Chief Velma Night is afraid it wouldn’t have the capacity to fight it.
As a result, she is hoping to sign mutual fire aid agreements with nearby villages, towns, and RMs.
“They’re still going to charge us for the men and equipment that come out. But, at least, there’s that mutual aid — ‘We’ll go to your rescue, we’ll go help you fight your fires — you come to our aid when we need’.”
Night says her reserve has a fire truck, but not much else to fight fires.
She says Saulteaux has asked for help in the past, but communities near the reserve are worried about liability issues — so they won’t help out without a deal in place.
Night wants to get a deal done in a month or so, because it’s been a very dry season.