{"id":109710,"date":"2026-10-16T13:45:03","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T17:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=109710"},"modified":"2026-10-16T13:45:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T17:45:03","slug":"neighbours-helping-neighbours-wasauksing-first-nation-rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-wildland-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/16\/neighbours-helping-neighbours-wasauksing-first-nation-rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-wildland-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Neighbours helping neighbours\u2019: Wasauksing First Nation rising from the ashes of a wildland fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Shania Tabobondung ParrySound.com\/ Local Journalism Initiative reporter\u00a0 The forest around Three Mile Lake on Wasauksing First Nation (WFN) had not burned in years. Dead trees stood in waterlogged swamps, pine needles thick on the ground. On the evening of Oct. 8, all of it became fuel \u2014 and a small community had less than half an hour of daylight to reach it. The wildland fire was reported to the Wasauksing Fire Department at 6 p.m. Eleven responders from the community mobilized to the location of the fire at Three Mile Lake as soon as they got the page. Will McPherson, WFN fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator (CEMC) said the blaze was located across from Three Mile Beach and pushing toward Five Mile Bay. Access required a gruelling&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F10%2F16%2Fneighbours-helping-neighbours-wasauksing-first-nation-rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-wildland-fire%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Shania Tabobondung ParrySound.com\/ Local Journalism Initiative reporter\u00a0 The forest around Three Mile Lake on Wasauksing First Nation (WFN) had not burned in years. Dead trees stood in waterlogged swamps, pine needles thick on the ground. On the evening of Oct. 8, all of it became fuel \u2014 and a small community had less than half an hour of daylight to reach it. The wildland fire was reported to the Wasauksing Fire Department at 6 p.m. Eleven responders from the community mobilized to the location of the fire at Three Mile Lake as soon as they got the page. Will McPherson, WFN fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator (CEMC) said the blaze was located across from Three Mile Beach and pushing toward Five Mile Bay. Access required a gruelling... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F10%2F16%2Fneighbours-helping-neighbours-wasauksing-first-nation-rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-wildland-fire%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-109710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u2018Neighbours helping neighbours\u2019: Wasauksing First Nation rising from the ashes of a wildland fire - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/16\/neighbours-helping-neighbours-wasauksing-first-nation-rising-from-the-ashes-of-a-wildland-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Neighbours helping neighbours\u2019: Wasauksing First Nation rising from the ashes of a wildland fire - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Shania Tabobondung ParrySound.com\/ Local Journalism Initiative reporter\u00a0 The forest around Three Mile Lake on Wasauksing First Nation (WFN) had not burned in years. Dead trees stood in waterlogged swamps, pine needles thick on the ground. On the evening of Oct. 8, all of it became fuel \u2014 and a small community had less than half an hour of daylight to reach it. The wildland fire was reported to the Wasauksing Fire Department at 6 p.m. Eleven responders from the community mobilized to the location of the fire at Three Mile Lake as soon as they got the page. Will McPherson, WFN fire chief and community emergency management co-ordinator (CEMC) said the blaze was located across from Three Mile Beach and pushing toward Five Mile Bay. 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