'I thought we were going to perish, actually'
Nineteen construction workers narrowly escaped a fast-moving wildfire in northwestern Ontario on Saturday after sheltering inside a metal shipping container as flames swept through their remote job site near Sandy Lake First Nation, according to a report.
The crew, which included employees from Sigfusson Northern and Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc., had been working on a project for the First Nation when wildfire Red Lake 12 rapidly advanced on the area. All but one of the workers were from communities across Manitoba, noted CBC.
According to Neal Gillespie, a superintendent with Milestone, the fire had initially been located approximately 40 kilometres away when work began on Saturday morning. By mid-morning, the fire had closed in, prompting the crew to begin packing up equipment in preparation for a possible evacuation.
“Things started to turn a little worse,” said Gillespie, according to the report.
A request to assist with fire breaks led the crew to move equipment toward a camp site 14 kilometres west, he said. Within 45 minutes, however, the fire had overtaken the area.
Unable to escape by road or air, the group followed pre-established emergency procedures and gathered in a “very barren” area of the camp, taking refuge in a cargo container to shield themselves from the flames and heavy smoke.
“The fire came up and danced literally right around us,” said Gillespie, adding that a few of the cargo containers around where they sat began to catch fire, according to the CBC report.
“I thought we were going to perish, actually. Itwasn’t good.”
As the fire spread, the group was forced to leave the container, which also began to burn. Multiple helicopter rescue attempts were made, but thick smoke prevented aircraft from locating the camp and landing.
After several hours, the crew was able to drive in a convoy along one of the region’s main roads to Sandy Lake First Nation, where evacuation efforts were underway. Nine of the workers were flown to Winnipeg on Saturday evening, with the remainder scheduled to follow shortly after, according to the report.
All 19 workers have since been accounted for and are safe, according to Ontario fire officials.
