{"id":94994,"date":"2025-07-21T16:22:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=94994"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:22:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:22:14","slug":"evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\/","title":{"rendered":"Evacuees return home after weeks in Kapuskasing area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KAPUSKASING &#8211; After four weeks of displacement, the last group of Sandy Lake First Nation evacuees boarded their flight home Friday. It marked the end of an emergency evacuation that brought over 400 people to Kapuskasing amid northwestern Ontario\u2019s wildfire season. The evacuation was managed by Creemergency, whose CEO Tyson Wesley, said the final departures were emotional for everyone involved. \u201cIt was really great to bring those final people back home,\u201d said Wesley. \u201cWe know how it feels to be away that long, not knowing when you\u2019ll return. Our team was really excited to see them go back.\u201d The evacuation began in early June, when out-of-control wildfires forced Sandy Lake residents to leave their homes. Kapuskasing, along with neighbouring Smooth Rock Falls, stepped&#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, and Canada 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%2F2025%2F07%2F21%2Fevacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KAPUSKASING &#8211; After four weeks of displacement, the last group of Sandy Lake First Nation evacuees boarded their flight home Friday. It marked the end of an emergency evacuation that brought over 400 people to Kapuskasing amid northwestern Ontario\u2019s wildfire season. The evacuation was managed by Creemergency, whose CEO Tyson Wesley, said the final departures were emotional for everyone involved. \u201cIt was really great to bring those final people back home,\u201d said Wesley. \u201cWe know how it feels to be away that long, not knowing when you\u2019ll return. Our team was really excited to see them go back.\u201d The evacuation began in early June, when out-of-control wildfires forced Sandy Lake residents to leave their homes. Kapuskasing, along with neighbouring Smooth Rock Falls, stepped... <\/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, and Canada 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%2F2025%2F07%2F21%2Fevacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94994","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-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Evacuees return home after weeks in Kapuskasing area - 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\/2025\/07\/21\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evacuees return home after weeks in Kapuskasing area - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Marissa Lentz-McGrath, Local Journalism Initiative, TimminsToday.com KAPUSKASING &#8211; After four weeks of displacement, the last group of Sandy Lake First Nation evacuees boarded their flight home Friday. It marked the end of an emergency evacuation that brought over 400 people to Kapuskasing amid northwestern Ontario\u2019s wildfire season. The evacuation was managed by Creemergency, whose CEO Tyson Wesley, said the final departures were emotional for everyone involved. \u201cIt was really great to bring those final people back home,\u201d said Wesley. \u201cWe know how it feels to be away that long, not knowing when you\u2019ll return. Our team was really excited to see them go back.\u201d The evacuation began in early June, when out-of-control wildfires forced Sandy Lake residents to leave their homes. Kapuskasing, along with neighbouring Smooth Rock Falls, stepped\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/21\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-21T20:22:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/21\\\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/21\\\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Evacuees return home after weeks in Kapuskasing area\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-21T20:22:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/21\\\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":489,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/21\\\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/21\\\/evacuees-return-home-after-weeks-in-kapuskasing-area\\\/\",\"name\":\"Evacuees return home after weeks in Kapuskasing area - 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