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Island Lake Wildfire Mitigation
B.R. Hay

Introduction

Discussion

For remote First Nations, wildfires can result in damaged or destroyed
homes, outages to critical infrastructure such as power or
telecommunications, and require evacuations which have their own negative
consequences such as trauma, being the target of racism, domestic violence,
or even suicide (Asfaw et al., 2019; McGee, 2021; Office of the Auditor
General of Canada [OAG], 2022; Public Health Agency of Canada [PHAC],
2024). With this in mind, the following research is a review of mitigation
methods, and associated challenges, that when put in place would increase
wildfire resilience for the First Nations in the ILR. Mitigation methods and
options were evaluated in their current form with current constraints to
recommend a course of action that the ILR First Nations, and applicable
parties, must take to implement mitigation options and achieve wildfire
resilience.

Wildfire resilience for the Island Lake First Nations is important. People’s
lives and livelihoods depend on it. By increasing their resilience, there is
less likelihood that the Nations would be impacted by wildfires in the area.
This means reduced need for evacuation, reduced potential damage to the
Nations from wildfires, and reduced chances that citizens of the region
would suffer the potentially traumatic effects of evacuation. Wildfire
mitigation is the pathway to wildfire resilience for the ILR First Nations.
Because mitigation extends to housing by way of maintenance and
upgrades, a cross-over benefit is realized to general housing on First
Nations too, thereby helping to alleviate a broader housing concern that is
currently plaguing those Nations (OAG, 2020; OAG, 2024).

Background

Conclusions and Recommendations
This research found that the following was required to attain wildfire
resilience in the region that:
• The built world, primarily housing, in the First Nations requires a large
initial effort in fireproofing and improving general maintenance of
structures to lower the risk that wildfires pose to those structures and
attain wildfire resilience. These initial efforts will reduce the likelihood
that structures could be ignited by ember transmission from wildfires in
the area;
• The natural world, such as forests, trees, and grasses in and around the
Nations requires a large initial vegetation management effort remove
and control vegetation in the region. This initial effort will reduce fuel
for potential wildfires and lower associated wildfire risk for the Nations;
• Both the built and natural worlds will require ongoing maintenance to
keep wildfire risk low and maintain the resilience earned by initial built
and natural world mitigation efforts;
• A myriad of constraints exists for the Island Lakes First Nations in
attaining wildfire resilience. They include bureaucracy issues, lack of
autonomy issues, and logistical challenges stemming from the Nations
being in a remote location. Combined, the constraints are nearly
insurmountable.
• A task force approach is required because of the sheer number of
different interested parties and jurisdictions involved in and around the
region.
• The Nations themselves must reestablish the practice of IFS and execute
it for their areas. Given their remote location and difficulty this brings to
conventional large-scale vegetation management practices and
transporting heavy equipment required to do so, IFS is the only practical
large-scale means to manage vegetation in the region. It can achieve
what other methods are unable to given the remoteness of the ILR; and
• Establish strong relationships between the Nations and with interested
parties such as the Manitoba wildfire service. This is required because
executing the practice of IFS must be done with a high degree of
coordination involving multiple jurisdictions present ILR.

Conclusions or Recommendations

The worldwide trend for wildfires is that they are getting bigger, occurring
more often, and causing larger impacts than ever before. Recently, wildfires
in Manitoba have burned close to and threatened remote First Nations such
as those in the Island Lake Region (ILR), requiring evacuations, threatening
supply of power, damaging homes, destroying the environment around
them, and threatening people’s lives (Hobson, 2021; Kemp, 2022; Sinclair,
2024; Ringos, 2024). This research answers the question: For the First
Nations in the Island Lake Region, what mitigation opportunities can
interested parties and the Nations themselves take to increase resilience of
Nations against wildfires while balancing traditional wildfire mitigation
techniques with post-colonial wildfire mitigation techniques in order to
become more resilient to wildfires and what challenges might they face when
doing so?

Methods
This research used a chain-referral strategy which resulted in a critical
appraisal of secondary data to explore what mitigation measures were
available to remote First Nations and challenges they may encounter when
implementing these measures. It then used the same strategy to source
reference material to better advise on how to implement those measures and
avoid associated challenges. In total, sources came from multiple sources
such as industry or agency grey literature (31%), peer-reviewed academic
articles (29%), context specific information for the Island Lake First Nations
(27%) and the remainder (13%) which was from other sources such as
general or media information.

Results/Findings
The research found that to increase wildfire resilience for the ILFNs,
multiple wildfire mitigation measures were arrayed in a layered,
overlapping, arrangement. Effective mitigation required an exertion of
control over both the built and natural worlds. The built world included
structures such as homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure. The
natural world includes items as plants, trees, and forests the surround the
First Nations. The research also uncovered awareness that with respect to
wildfire mitigation, the ILFNs are operating under a set of incredibly rigid
constraints. Those constraints include a short window of practical physical
access for the winter roads that provide access to the communities and is
used to import wildfire mitigation materials. They also include a
bureaucratic framework that makes mitigation project execution difficult,
especially with tight physical access window. The journey to wildfire
resilience requires a large-group of interested parties such as the citizens,
First Nations’ leadership and involvement by all levels of government
working together closely to make it so.

References
Asfaw, H. W., Nation, S. L. F., McGee, T. K., & Christianson, A. C. (2019). A qualitative study exploring barriers and facilitators of
effective service delivery for Indigenous wildfire hazard evacuees during their stay in host communities. International Journal of
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Hobson, B. (2021, May 19). Wildfires claim 2 homes in Cree community in northern Manitoba. APTN News.
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/wildfires-claim-2-homes-in-cree-community-in-northern-manitoba/
Kemp, C. (2022, August 18). Wildfire evacuees hopeful they'll soon return home after generators shipped to Pukatawagan. CBC News.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/pukatawagan-fire-evacuees-generators-1.6554414
McGee, T. K. (2021, May 4). Evacuating First Nations during wildfires in Canada. Fire Safety Journal, 120, 103120.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037971122030182X
Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2022). Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada: Emergency
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Office of the Auditor General of Canada. (2024). Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada: Housing in First
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Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024, July). Rapid review: An intersectional analysis of the disproportionate health impacts of wildfires
on diverse populations and communities. Government of Canada.
Ringos, M. (2024, July 31). 5 northern First Nations in Manitoba forced to evacuate due to the wildfire crisis. CityNews.
https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2024/07/31/5-northern-first-nations-in-manitoba-forced-to-evacuate-due-to-the-wildfire-crisis/
Sinclair, N. (2024, July 27). Wildfire horror real for many communities, not just historic resort towns. The Winnipeg Free Press.
https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/2024/07/25/wildfire-horror-real-for-many-communities-not-just-historic-resort-towns
Zahara, A. (2020, January 8). Breathing fire into landscapes that burn: Wildfire management in a time of alterlife. Engaging Science,
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Bachelor of Emergency & Security Management Studies

Justice Institute of British Columbia

April, 2025