Labrador boys burned in known gas-sniffing house, Innu deputy grand chief says

NATUASHISH, N.L. – The deputy grand chief of the Innu Nation is pleading for help after two boys were burned in a known hangout for gas sniffing in Labrador.

Simeon Tshakapesh says the two suffered burns when the house burned to the ground in Natuashish.

RCMP say the two boys — aged 11 and 17 — were seriously injured and are being treated in hospital.

It’s the third such fire in the community in less than a month.

Tshakapesh says solvent abuse among children and young people in the community has become “an epidemic,” and there is nothing in place to address it.

Natuashish was established in 2002 as a new community for the Innu of Davis Inlet, which had been beset by a lack of running water and social problems.