Kashechewan evacuees arrive in Thunder Bay

About 300 evacuees from Kashechewan First Nation arrived in Thunder Bay on Sunday.

The evacuees were moved out of the community because of the risk of flooding from the Albany River. 

The first group of evacuees arrived around the noon hour, and were expected to continue to arrive until the early evening.

The city is preparing to host the evacuees for up to ten days.

"It's a challenge to make sure that we have all of the needs met, so that's why our volunteers are all trained to provide really meticulous needs assessment so that we can get everybody through the process fairly quickly," said Sharon Bak, the Operations Manager with the Canadian Red Cross. 

Half a dozen firefighters from Thunder Bay Fire Rescue were on hand to help offload the passengers and their luggage from the arriving aircraft.

"We value our role here in the north, and want to be big partners in looking out for our neighbours, as well," said David Paxton, the Deputy Chief with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue.

"And if we have nothing that stops us from being able to step up, we want be known as the city with the big heart, and we'll step up."