northern Ontario First Nations not equipped to fight fires, says retired fire chief

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2026.

OTTAWA — A retired fire chief says First Nations’ firefighting operations in northern Ontario are being set up to fail and need better equipment and training from Indigenous Services Canada

Monique Belair worked for 39 years for Kingston Fire and Rescue and now works with a group of five northern Ontario First Nations.

She says the severe lack of funding and proper equipment in the region is making attending fire calls unreasonably dangerous.

Belair says when a house fire broke out last week in a northern Ontario First Nation, community members were unable to enter to attempt a rescue operation because they did not have the proper breathing equipment.

That fire took the life of Chief Donny Morris’s three-year-old grandson and left two others with serious injuries.

The Independent First Nations Alliance, a group of five First Nations that includes Morris’s own community, filed a Canadian Human Rights Commission complaint in August 2025 alleging Indigenous Services Canada has systemically discriminated against their communities by underfunding on-reserve fire services.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2026.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press