— For the second time in just over a month, residents of Pikangikum First Nation in northwestern Ontario are being asked to evacuate due to smoke from nearby wildfires. This is the second time this year that Pikangikum residents have had to evacuate due to nearby wildfires. Meantime, the Department of National Defence said it has responded to a request from the provincial government for help with the evacuation effort. A department spokeswoman said Sunday that 20 Army Rangers and a Hercules aircraft have been assigned to help with the evacuation. “The Canadian Rangers will begin immediately working in the Pikangikum First Nation community to assist with ground co-ordination, help to communicate evacuation plans and assist with the management and loading of community members onto aircraft,” Ashley Lemire said in a statement.

Source: National Post July 07, 2019 19:41 UTC