Pimicikamak Cree Nation leaders are still working to get the final few community members to safety as emergency crews fight an out-of-control wildfire, and Chief David Monias is exasperated with residents who’ve refused to leave.

“They want to bunker down and think that they can survive it, but if those fire embers come in … they don’t understand the dynamics of what the fire does and how it behaves. They feel like they’re saving their homes.”

“We saw the fire and it was just rolling over on top of the trees. It’s going to roll over towards the other escape route, which would cut us off altogether, even to Norway House,” he said.

Some can be reasoned with, but there are others who have said they are absolutely not going — even though they have young children, he said.

“They said, ‘You’re not going to come and get me,’ but we are,” Monias said. “We’ll be rounding those people up with RCMP and security and safety officers, going around to make sure they get on a plane [on Tuesday].”