By Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door Helen Paavola, chief of the small community of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, flew into her homelands this week, finding nothing left but ashes. Not even the road bridges are left standing. “My members barely escaped with the clothes on their backs. My community was left to evacuate without notice and support,” she said. Images taken from a tin boat show a goliath wildfire, dwarfing the forest below, but videos, pictures, and words do no justice to the reality on the ground, she said. As wildfires raged in northern Ontario, Namaygoosisagagun, also known as Collins, was not the only community left to manage its own escape. “If you’ve never been to Whitewater Lake,” said Pauline Drake, chief of that First Nation, “it…
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