The provincial fire services office says the cause of the deadly fire on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation will never be known because of the total destruction caused by the blaze.
Fire investigators have determined there was a battery-powered smoke alarm in the house, but say it is impossible to know if it was in working order.
Two toddlers, a brother and sister, died when fire swept through the home during the early morning hours of February 17.
The fire has renewed calls for better fire protection services and a demand for more federal funding.
The chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, Eric Sylvestre, has ordered an assessment to determine the capacity and readiness of MLTC member bands to deal with fire safety. Everything from funding, to service agreements to simple home fire safety plans will be part of the evaluation. He says it is something that has never been done before, but it is long overdue.
“Right now, I don’t have all the information readily available in front of me encompassing all of our communities,” said Sylvestre. “So doing an assessment will give us a snapshot of what do we have now, where do we need to go now.”
Sylvestre says what needs to be done is to find collective solutions where communities, tribal chiefs, and the federal government work together. He says casting blame resolves nothing.
“We don’t want to continue to do that,” he said. “I think there is an opportunity now for our communities and the governments for move forward on this and fix this problem that we are having.”
The deaths of the two children on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation also prompted an urgent letter from Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde to federal Aboriginal Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt demanding an urgent meeting.
Bellegarde is pushing Ottawa to remove the two per cent cap on yearly funding increases that was put on First Nations in the mid-90s.
In the letter, he says: “Our people have suffered long enough. We must address immediate needs of safety and security for our people and communities and we must engage on discussions towards a new fiscal relationship.”
Valcourt has agreed to a meeting. A date has not yet been set.
The deaths have also prompted a woman from Ajax, Ontario to launch a “Go Fund Me” campaign for the family of the two toddlers. So far, more than $8,000 has been raised. The fundraising goal is $10,000.
You can make donations at gofundme.com under the category “Tragic Fire – Help Haley and Harley”.