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Fifteen years after the Innu of Davis Inlet were moved to a fresh start in nearby Natuashish, leaders are once again fighting to keep kids as young as 11 from sniffing gas.

“They’re doing it right on the street,” said Simeon Tshakapesh, deputy grand chief of the Innu Nation in Labrador.

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He took a late-night walk three days after a fire May 8 at an abandoned house known for gas-sniffing injured two boys who, according to police, were 11 and 17.

The younger victim was flown to Toronto for treatment while the other was sent to hospital in St. John’s, Tshakapesh said. RCMP described both their injuries as serious.

Tshakapesh wanted to see for himself what he calls a “solvent abuse epidemic” in the remote coastal community of 1,000 residents.

He figures about 20 people — some adults, several teenagers and some kids as young as 11 — are getting high on gasoline in plastic bags.

The fire conjured old headlines back in 1993. Video recordings of kids at Davis Inlet sniffing gas and yelling that they wanted to die made international news. Media reports beamed images of decrepit housing without running water.