The City of London is readying to receive at least 170 First Nations residents as a result of forest fires in Northern Ontario, in response to a request from Emergency Management Ontario for municipalities across the province to accept evacuees.
Thunder Bay has been designated the staging hub to receive evacuees being flown in from the remote northwestern Ontario communities. As of this morning, the total number of evacuees was 3,615.
London is one of several southwestern Ontario municipalities offering to host evacuees. The First Nations residents will be flown from Thunder Bay to Pearson International Airport in Toronto, where they will then board buses bound for their receiving communities.
Fanshawe College has opened its doors, preparing accommodations and making arrangements for basic necessities for the evacuees who are anticipated to arrive later today.
“The overall evacuation is an enormous undertaking. Fanshawe College is very happy to be able to help in any way we can; we have the capacity in our residence buildings and we certainly have the desire to assist. This is a very difficult situation for the thousands of people involved and our goal, working with the City of London, is to make these families feel comfortable and welcome during their stay here,” stated Fanshawe Senior V.P., Academic and Acting President Lane Trotter.
More details will follow us they become available.
