Abandoned on the road to the Ring of Fire

Wet ash is falling through a slight mist over the fly-in northern Ontario community of Eabametoong (Fort Hope First Nation), 370 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay. On Wednesday, a high column of smoke plumed over the lake. By Friday, Chief Sol Atlookan found fires surrounding his community, and now they’re burning right across the bay. “It doesn’t matter where the wind’s coming from,” Atlookan says. “If it comes from the east, from the west, we’re still going to be smoked out. A lot of people are very nervous, of course. At this point in time, getting us out doesn’t seem to be a high prior…