A northern Ontario First Nation has declared a state of emergency and is attempting to evacuate hundreds of residents as smoke from a nearby wildfire blows into the community.

Pikangikum First Nation, a remote fly-in reserve that’s about 500 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay, Ont., declared the state of emergency overnight, according to provincial and Indigenous officials.

A spokeswoman for the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said crews are battling a 400-hectare blaze east of the community. Jolanta Kowalski said five to six crews responded Wednesday night and the ministry expects to have up to a dozen crews attacking the flames by the end of Thursday.

Meanwhile, the leader of an organization that represents 49 First Nations in northwestern Ontario said he’s “beyond frustration” at the pace of the government’s response to the blaze.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said not a single military plane had arrived in Pikangikum by early Thursday afternoon – a fact confirmed by the military.

“We’ve been at this since yesterday evening … speaking with various government officials, provincially, federally, to begin mobilizing the manpower that’s needed to do this evacuation,” Fiddler said in a phone interview from Thunder Bay.

“It’s frustrating … knowing the scope of the emergency, the number of people that need to be moved to other centres, and just the time – the minutes are ticking by, the hours are ticking by to begin this work.”

David Lavallee, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Air Force, confirmed Thursday afternoon that a CC-130H Hercules had been sent to Pikangikum from Canadian Forces Base Trenton to assess the situation but had not touched down.

“We’re still looking at what our options might be to help the province get these folks out of harm’s way,” he said in a phone interview.

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Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath called on Premier Doug Ford Thursday to commit to providing Pikangikum with whatever help it needs.

“Yesterday, I spoke with Chief Amanda Sainnawap about the need for more planes to get people out of the community,” Horwath said in a statement. “The Chief expressed her concern that smoke from the approaching fires may soon hinder the visibility of aircraft to land.”

Greg Rickford, Ontario’s minister of Indigenous affairs, said about 1,600 residents of the community have been identified as vulnerable, out of an on-reserve population of roughly 2,300.

He and Fiddler said the priority is get those people out first.

“We must do everything in our power to protect the people of Pikangikum,” Horwath continued in a statement. “I am urging this government to commit today to ensuring that Ontario unconditionally provides whatever help they need.”

The City of Thunder Bay said it’s preparing to receive about 300 evacuees from Pikangikum over the next 48 hours. It said in a statement that Thunder Bay will also serve as a “transportation hub” to help move evacuees to other host communities across the province.

Kowalski, the ministry spokesperson, said the fire has been burning to the southeast, away from the community so far, although a wind shift could change that.

“It all depends on the wind,” she said. “Clear weather can make fighting a fire slightly more challenging.”

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– With files from Daina Goldfinger

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