Elder’s home burns as she waits for help

Advertisement

Advertise with us

Audrey Bone was “devastated” as she watched the home she has lived in all her life burn to the ground Saturday.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $14.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

Subscribe Now

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/06/2020 (1396 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Audrey Bone was “devastated” as she watched the home she has lived in all her life burn to the ground Saturday.

The elder, who lives at Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation, lost everything in the fire.

But even more devastating, there was no help to be found that Saturday afternoon.

Elder Audrey Bone lost her home to fire at Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation after calls for help went unaswered, (Submitted)
Elder Audrey Bone lost her home to fire at Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation after calls for help went unaswered, (Submitted)

Bone said the fire, which broke out sometime in the afternoon, began in a camper connected to the house.

She called the RCMP first, thinking they’d be able to get a fire truck to the reserve as quickly as possible. She then started calling around the reserve, hoping she’d get some help to put out the camper fire before the house was affected. She couldn’t reach anybody.

“But it caught really fast,” she said. “It was right beside the house.”

Bone was alone at the home with her granddaughter and a baby, Bone’s great-grandchild, when the fire broke out.

Fortunately, no one was hurt.

The RCMP arrived right away, Bone said, but the Strathclair fire department – part of the Rural Municipality of Yellowhead – refused the call.

“The one (RCMP) who took the report from me, he said he felt really bad. ‘That shouldn’t have happened,’ he said. ‘I’ve never, ever heard of a fire department refusing to help, in an emergency like that,’” Bone recounted.

“They probably could have saved my house if someone had come and done something right away.”

The RCMP confirmed the Yellowhead detachment attended Bone’s call at 3 p.m.

“One of the officers did speak with a fire chief from a neighbouring municipality in regards to the fire but they did not attend,” said Sgt. Paul Manaigre, an RCMP media relations officer.

“We are not in a position to speak on the actions taken by the neighbouring fire departments as you will need to reach out to the municipality directly.”

The Sandy Lake fire department was not notified, said fire chief Chad Davies, adding: “My understanding is they tried to get Strathclair and Shoal Lake.”

Rick Eastcott is the fire chief for both those communities. He told The Sun he would not comment, but provided Rural Municipality of Yellowhead Mayor Merv Starzyk’s cellphone number. The Sun could not reach him by deadline.

“Our fire truck eventually came, but the house was already burned by that time,” Bone said of the community’s emergency response vehicle.

“The truck is so old, I guess they have a hard time getting it going. It broke down after they drained all the water out.”

Elder Audrey Bone watched a blaze consume her home and everthing in it at Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation the afternoon of May 30. (Submitted)
Elder Audrey Bone watched a blaze consume her home and everthing in it at Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation the afternoon of May 30. (Submitted)

Bone said the fire was still smouldering at that point.

Larry Beaton, Bone’s son, said the house would have been saved if somebody had responded. He said he was just leaving work in Erickson when he got the call from a family member about the fire.

“The local (Keeseekoowenin’s) fire truck only arrived about 40 minutes after I got home,” Beaton said.

The drive from Erickson to Keeseekoowenin takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes.

“It had a full tank of water,” Chief Norman Bone said about the reserve’s truck. “But by the time we got there, the house was in full flame already. We were in the middle of a funeral. We were in a procession to the graveyard.”

Chief Bone said a new fire truck to replace the old one is on the agenda.

“We’ll be discussing that,” he said.

For now, Audrey Bone is staying at her daughter’s place since there are no extra houses at Keeseekoowenin. She will also be spending time at her medicine camp adjacent to Riding Mountain National Park, where she teaches in the summers.

Audrey Bone’s niece, Kathi Preston, put out a call on Facebook after the fire, asking for help with clothes and other essentials. She can reached at kathi1971@icloud.com. Preston also has information about donations being accepted at Urban Circle Training Centre in Winnipeg, where Bone also works.

» mletourneau@brandonsun.com

» Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.

Report Error Submit a Tip

Advertisement

Advertise With Us

Local

LOAD MORE