Por Alessandra Freitas, CNN

Al principio, lo único que Miiyah Paavola podía ver era un espeso muro de humo.

Desde su casa en la Namaygoosisagagun Firsi Nation, en el noroeste de Ontario, el humo parecía estar cerca.

Pero la remota comunidad indígena dice que ese lunes 13 de julio, el Ministerio de Recursos Naturales de Canadá les dijo que no había peligro inmediato.

En cuestión de horas, huían por sus vidas.

“Todo fue muy acelerado. Realmente no hubo mucho tiempo para pensar en lo que estaba pasando”, dijo Paavola a CNN.

Agarró una toalla mojada antes de apretujarse a bordo de una pequeña embarcación de aluminio con otras cinco personas, tres perros y un gato. La comunidad aislada, también conocida como la Collins First Nation, no tiene acceso por carretera, solo una línea ferroviaria y el lago Collins.

Paavola no pudo comprender del todo la magnitud del peligro hasta que su embarcación se alejó.

“Todo lo que se veía era naranja y gris y estaba muy oscuro”, dijo. Pero mientras se alejaban navegando, por fin pudo ver lo cerca que habían estado de los incendios. “Cuando iba cruzando quizá por la segunda isla, ahí fue cuando lo vi. Apenas podía ver las llamas llegar a la orilla. Y era un muro de humo muy espeso que lo siguió muy rápidamente”.

“Si hubiéramos esperado más, habríamos muerto”.

Solo 25 de los aproximadamente 60 miembros de la comunidad estaban en Collins cuando llegó el incendio. Los residentes dicen que eso probablemente salvó vidas, ya que la gente se apiñó en viejas embarcaciones de aluminio de 3,5, y 4 metros impulsadas por motores de décadas de antigüedad. Muchos tuvieron que dejar a sus mascotas atrás.

Los incendios que devastaron Collins forman parte de una emergencia de incendios forestales más amplia que se desarrolla en todo Canadá, donde había 889 incendios activos propagándose hasta la noche del jueves, según el Sistema Canadiense de Información sobre Incendios Forestales. De esos, 163 incendios forestales activos están en Ontario, según el Ministerio de Recursos Naturales de la provincia.

Miiyah recuerda que la propia huida fue tan aterradora como el incendio.

“Fue muy aterrador”, dijo. “Hubo bastantes veces en que sentí que estábamos a punto de volcar”.

Su embarcación enfrentó fuertes olas durante los aproximadamente 40 minutos que tardó en navegar desde la parte norte hasta la parte sur del lago Collins. Poco después de salir de la orilla, chocaron contra una roca y casi volcaron.

La madre de Miiyah, la jefa Helen Paavola, no estaba en el pueblo cuando se desató el incendio. Dijo que un funcionario de incendios le había dicho antes que no había peligro inmediato, insistiendo en que el humo que los residentes estaban viendo provenía de un incendio humeante más lejano.

La jefa Paavola recuerda los momentos de agonía cuando no pudo comunicarse con miembros de la comunidad durante la evacuación, incluida su hija y dos hijos.

“Lo único que podía pensar era… se han ido. Mis hijos se han ido. Mi comunidad se ha ido”, dijo a CNN. “No hay palabras para explicar el alivio que sentí cuando supe que todos habían salido”.

Pero, al igual que todas las demás casas en Collins First Nation, su hogar fue completamente destruido por los incendios.

En una conferencia de prensa con el primer ministro de Ontario, Doug Ford, funcionarios del Gobierno dijeron que el incendio había comenzado inusualmente cerca de la comunidad en Collins, dejando poco tiempo para responder. El Gobierno dijo que revisaría su respuesta a la situación.

La destrucción de Collins se ha convertido en uno de los ejemplos más contundentes de la devastación causada por los incendios de esta semana.

Según Linda Debassige, gran jefa del Consejo de la Nación Anishinabek en Ontario, se perdieron más de 30 viviendas, junto con la oficina de administración, la escuela, e

CARPINTERIA, Calif. — Polo, philanthropy and a whole lot of heart came together Friday as the Friendship Center celebrated 50 years of serving the community.

The nonprofit hosted its annual Summer Polo Soirée, bringing together about 100 guests for an afternoon of polo, food, drinks and fundraising.

Organizers say about 60% of attendees were new to Friendship Center events.

“Of our 100 attendees today, I'd say like 60 have probably never attended a Friendship Center event,” said Kathryn Westland, executive director of the Friendship Center.

The event was held to raise money for programs supporting seniors living with dementia and the loved ones who care for them.

For Sue Palaszewski, the polo match was a first. She said attending the event had been on her bucket list.

“It's my first polo match ever,” Palaszewski said. “I had it on my bucket list to get here this year to come and witness a game. And here I am today supporting the Friendship Center and enjoying the beautiful horses.”

Guests enjoyed VIP seating at the polo match, light bites, an open bar and a silent auction.

The Friendship Center offers programming for people living with dementia on a sliding scale, meaning there is no set fee to attend.

Westland said the organization was hoping to raise about $75,000 through the fundraiser.

“Everything that we raise goes towards enabling members to come to our program no matter their financial situation,” Westland said.

Grazia Coffin said her father has been a member of the Friendship Center for about a year. She said the organization has been a major source of support for her family.

“He loves every minute of it,” Coffin said. “He gets constant interaction and is stimulated with the music and art and all the outreach programs that they have.”

Palaszewski said the center also provides peace of mind for families.

“It's so nice to know that when you're at work, you're not stressing out, that you have a place for your parents to go,” she said.

The Friendship Center also plans to announce details about its first-ever conference focused on dementia, along with a family reunion alumni picnic.

Westland said the need for services is growing as California's older adult population increases.

“The aging population, adults over 65, is rapidly growing in California and Santa Barbara especially,” Westland said. “So it doesn't matter if you're working in the health care setting or if you're working in retail, you're going to be working with older adults.”

The Friendship Center says the fundraiser supports its mission to provide compassionate care for people living with dementia and their families.

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By Hanna Ziady, CNN

Manchester, England (CNN) — Britain badly needs its mojo back. Its economy is struggling, public services are strained and improvements in living standards have slowed to a crawl in recent decades. Political instability is the new normal, and the national mood is bleak.

Could a healthy dose of hope from Andy Burnham be the antidote?

The former mayor of Greater Manchester, in the northwest of England, Burnham will become the United Kingdom’s seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday after replacing Keir Starmer as leader of the ruling Labour Party.

He has promised the country “a new era of possibility.”

While his predecessor lacked charisma, Burnham is a natural communicator with an easy-going vibe and a gift for galvanizing people. He is likeable and funny — in a “dad jokes” kind of way — and his smart-casual fashion choices make him relatable.

He is also an experienced politician, having been a member of parliament and a cabinet minister for many years before trading London for Manchester in 2017. Now, he wants to bring “Manchesterism” — his brand of business-friendly, locally empowered social democracy — to the British capital and the rest of the UK.

“I am going to give Britain the circuit breaker it needs,” he said in a speech last month, as he launched his third bid in the past 16 years for leadership of the Labour Party.

As mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years, Burnham oversaw a city region whose economy has grown at roughly twice the rate of the country as a whole.

The city is “unrecognizable” from the one that Lucy Ellison, a 33-year-old café manager, grew up in. She moved back two years ago after working in hospitality in the United States and Amsterdam for 12 years.

“It feels like a different city,” she told CNN, mentioning the “quirky wine shops and independent bakeries we never used to have.”

‘Love Notes to Manchester’

Wine bars, specialty coffee shops and upmarket cafés now proliferate in a city with a distinctly optimistic and ambitious energy. Last month, Condé Nast Traveller named Manchester the UK’s “brightest foodie destination.”

A bustling hospitality scene is part of the reason why Hip Pop, a local soda and kombucha brand, has thrived. Co-founder Emma Thackray started the company in her kitchen in 2019, selling at markets in the north of England.

The brand is now stocked by most major UK supermarkets and sold in several other European countries. Thackray wants to “build a global brand, from the heart of Manchester,” she told CNN, as she enthused about the many positive changes in the city where she was a university student more than two decades ago.

On a street downtown called Deansgate, local artist Helen Davies, 32, sits in a shop front working on a collection of paintings dubbed “Love Notes to Manchester,” an ode to a place she “continues to fall for,” according to a writeup in the window.

Nearby, brightly painted steps lead to Deansgate Mews, where an eclectic mix of eateries can be found. A youthful clientele enjoys lunch in the sunshine or types away busily on laptops, part of a growing cohort of young workers who have moved to the city in recent years, many from London.

Manchester is more affordable than London and still offers high-quality restaurants, a vibrant night-life and top-notch arts and culture

By Emma Tucker, CNN

(CNN) — Two US Forest Service workers were doing field work in a northern California forest on Thursday morning when they were abducted at gunpoint, zip-tied and led to a remote trailer, authorities said.

Using one of the victims’ phones to make a call, a suspect said he had “taken two fed (employees) hostage from the Forest Service” and he had “live rounds ready,” federal prosecutors said.

The call led to a massive local, state and federal law enforcement presence racing up the one-lane road to the campsite, located 2,000 feet up in rough terrain in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, authorities said.

It wasn’t until 15 hours later the government workers were released and home safe, and federal prosecutors charged a father and a son with kidnapping.

During the negotiations, authorities used drones to identify the trailer and make contact with the father, said Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue. When they did, the father said he wanted to speak with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, warning he had firearms and ammunition, the sheriff said.

About four hours later, around 4:20 p.m., federal and local law enforcement were able to begin negotiations, and the standoff continued nearly 10 hours more until the two employees were released 15 minutes apart, authorities said.

Less than an hour later, law enforcement was able to “successfully communicate” with one of the suspects, which led to the father and son walking out of the trailer together.

The suspected kidnappers were identified as Joseph Charles Henrichsen, 49, and his son Phoenix Henrichsen, 23, the Department of Justice said. They are in custody after being charged with kidnapping federal employees, the agency said.

The motive is still unclear and is being investigated, the agency said.

“I’d like to tell you it’s probably the smoothest thing that I’ve seen in many years,” the sheriff said, speaking of the negotiations and surrender.

Joseph Henrichsen had an AR-15-style rifle and knives and claimed to have grenades, according to Brian Tosh, FBI acting special agent in charge.

“Crisis situations like this don’t often result in everyone leaving the scene safely. We are very proud of the work everyone did today,” Tosh said.

US Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said he was “grateful beyond words” the workers are home safe.

“This outcome is a testament to the skill and professionalism of our Forest Service law enforcement officers, the FBI, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office, and every first responder who answered the call,” Schultz said.

At a news conference, Schultz spoke about how the kidnapping “has been a frightening experience for everyone involved, for our employees, their families, their co-workers, and frankly, for all of us who care about the people who serve this agency and the public every day.”

CNN has contacted the Mt. Shasta Police Department and the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

If convicted, the Henrichsens face a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

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By Alessandra Freitas, CNN

(CNN) — At first, all Miiyah Paavola could see was a thick wall of smoke.

From her home in Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, northwestern Ontario, the smoke appeared close.

But the remote Indigenous community says that on that Monday, July 13, they were told by the Ministry of Natural Resources there was no immediate danger.

Within hours, they were fleeing for their lives.

“It was all very fast-paced. There was not really much time to think about what was happening,” Paavola told CNN.

She grabbed a wet towel before squeezing aboard a small aluminum boat with five other people, three dogs and a cat. The isolated community, also known as Collins First Nation, has no road access, only a railway line and Collins Lake.

Paavola couldn’t fully grasp the scope of the danger until her boat pulled away.

“All you could see was orange and gray and it was very dark,” she said. But as they sailed away, she could finally see just how close they’d been to the fires. “When I was going across maybe about the second island, that’s when I watched it. I could just barely see the flames reach the shoreline. And it was a very thick wall of smoke that followed it very quickly.”

“If we had waited any longer, we would have been dead.”

Only 25 of the community’s roughly 60 members were in Collins when the fire arrived. Residents say that likely saved lives, as people crowded into aging 12- and 14-foot aluminum boats powered by decades-old motors. Many had to leave their pets behind.

The fires that devastated Collins are part of a wider wildfire emergency unfolding across Canada, where 889 active fires were spreading as of Thursday night, according to the Canadian Wildland Fire Information System. Of those, 163 active wildfires are in Ontario, according to the province’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

‘All I could think was my children were gone’

Miiyah remembers the escape itself being just as terrifying as the fire.

“It was very scary,” she said. “There were quite a few times I felt like we were about to tip.”

Their boat faced strong waves during the roughly 40 minutes it took to sail from the northern to the southern part of Collins Lake. Shortly after leaving the shore, they struck a rock and nearly flipped.

Miiyah’s mother, Chief Helen Paavola, wasn’t in the village when the fire broke out. She said a fire official had told her earlier that there was no immediate danger, insisting the smoke residents were seeing came from a smoldering fire farther away.

Chief Paavola remembers the moments of agony when she couldn’t reach members of the community during the evacuation, including her daughter and two sons.

“All I could think was … they’re gone. My children are gone. My community is gone,” she told CNN. “There are no words to explain the relief that I felt when I knew everybody was out.”

But just like all other houses in Collins First Nation, her home was completely destroyed by the fires.

At a press conference with Ontario Premier Doug Ford, government officials said that the fire had started unusually close to the community in Collins, leaving little time to respond. The government said that it would review its response to the situation.

A community turned to ash

The destruction of Collins has become one of the starkest examples of the devastation caused by this week’s fires.

According to Linda Debassige, Grand Council Chief of the Anishinabek Nation in Ontario, more than 30 homes were lost, along with the administration office, school, community center, storage buildings, vehicles and essential community equipment.

“If they waited for an emergency response,” she said, “we would all be on a re