Sandy Bay First Nation fire kills young man

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/04/2012 (5039 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Flames tore through a house on Sandy Bay First Nation on Friday night, claiming the life of a young man trapped in the inferno.

As word of the blaze spread across the community, family searched for missing David Houle, 22.

Hours later, his body was discovered in the wreckage of the house he was visiting.

On Sunday, Sandy Bay Chief Irvin McIvor said Houle was an active member of the Ojibway First Nation and often volunteered at social events

“It’s really sad to see something like that happen so tragically,” he said, describing a community in mourning.

Sandy Bay is located along the western shore of Lake Manitoba, about 180 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

Trauma like this has struck the reserve before. In 2009, two children — nine-year-old Hope Richard and five-year-old Tristan Mousseau — died in separate house fires three months apart.

In the wake of those tragedies, then-chief Russell Beaulieu called on the federal government to ramp up efforts to replace and repair dilapidated, overcrowded housing on First Nations — much of which lacks modern fire protection.

At the time, about 200 families on Sandy Bay First Nation were waiting for a new home, and the community wanted new firefighting equipment.

Three years later, little has changed. The community’s volunteer fire department is saddled with an aging firetruck and funds to upgrade their firefighting capabilities have not been forthcoming, the chief said.

Although details of the blaze are still being determined, the house that caught fire on Friday was “very, very old,” McIvor said.

“Some of these houses are more or less like paper, they go up (in flames) pretty quick,” he said.