Ontario wildfire evacuees arrested, damage caused at U of R

The University of Regina is dealing with some trouble from Ontario wildfire evacuees.

The university is housing the majority of the 426 people from the Pikangikum First Nation who were forced to leave their homes.

Four of the evacuees have been charged with assault.

Two men were arrested after an incident at the 3737 Wascana Parkway residence tower on Friday.

A 19-year-old and a 22-year-old are accused of assault causing bodily harm after a fight with a 24-year-old man. The victim required care from EMS.

A third man was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and disobeying a court order on Saturday.

The 29-year-old man is accused of inflicting serious injuries on a 28-year-old woman. Regina police are treating the case as a domestic-related assault.

All three men made their first appearances in provincial court Monday morning.

A 27-year-old woman also was charged with assault.

She allegedly assaulted another 27-year-old woman, who’s also among the Ontario evacuees.

Regina police said the alleged fourth assault was reported to them by EMS ambulance crew members on Sunday night.

Damage to the facilities

There have also been reports of damage to the school’s residential facilities.

Duane McKay, the vice-president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, said there haven’t been major issues.

“Some of the damage might be just to carpeting, or bedding, and so on. So, we’re not talking about large-scale destruction here,” he said.

Paul Dederick, the associate director of communications and public relations with the U of R, said the school doesn’t have any cost estimate for repairs. He elaborated on McKay’s assessment of the situation.

“As far as the nature of the damage, it was (…) primarily to carpet, bedding and one wall,” he said in a media release.

He said additional resources are being put into campus security to ensure safety at the university.