Two more communities in Manitoba’s Island Lake region are preparing to evacuate vulnerable residents away from wildfires spreading out of control around them.
St. Theresa Point and Wasagamack First Nations have declared local states of emergencies in the last 24 hours, said Grand Chief Alex McDougall of Anisininew Okimawin, an organization that represents four nations in the region.
Vulnerable residents, including elderly people, children and people with underlying medical conditions are expected to start being evacuated from the two First Nations on Monday, Chief Walter Harper said.
Five-hundred people will be evacuated from the communities, said McDougall.
Two wildfires, one of them burning about 16 kilometres away west that started in recent days, have blanketed Wasagamack with smoke, resulting in deteriorating air quality.
The First Nation, about 375 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, has been monitoring them by looking at satellite imaging and sending crews on the ground, but firefighting activity has been limited.
Weather conditions have been unfavourable in recent days. The First Nation is hoping for some rain on Sunday, but Harper said they do not believe it will be of much help to douse the flames.
About 2,300 people live in the community, Harper said. The First Nation chief spoke with Premier Wab Kinew on Sunday and said the community is expecting support from the province.
“I need lots of tobacco offering to do a prayer for the rain to kind of put out the fire,” the chief said. “We need firefighters too, we need water bombers.”
Wasagamack First Nation doesn’t have an airport and the closest landing strips are in St. Theresa Point, Man., and Garden Hill, Man., said Vice-Chief Robert Harper.
With heavy smoke drifting from the wildfires, there are concerns planes can’t land, grounding Wasagamack’s evacuation plans.
“There’s a lot of people with health conditions here asking if they’re being sent out,” he said. “There’s smoke no matter which way the wind blows, except for the northeast.”
Harper said officials are “trying to get ahead of what we know is coming.”
Grand Chief Alex McDougall said the communities in the Island Lake region have been in conversations with Indigenous Services Canada and the Red Cross. He said there are concerns about the health of residents, especially with deteriorating air quality.
“It is one of the drivers to calling a local state emergency and starting the process of evacuations,” said Harper.
He said there are also worries about fires growing closer to hydro corridors that could leave communities without power.
Anisininew Okimawin has stressed to the federal and provincial governments the importance of sending firefighting resources — both human and equipment — to the region.
Near Wasagamack, a stretch of the forest that burned in 2017 is a hotspot. If reached by the new wildfires, it could accelerate the spread toward the community.
In Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, about 475 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, a sprinkler system has been set up and a fire line has been built to protect residences from the flames.
A spokesperson for the province said the fire threatening that community is almost 2,500 hectares in size.
The First Nation started evacuating residents on Thursday — the same day the province declared another state of emergency due to wildfires.
On Saturday, there were about 750 evacuees staying at the emergency shelter set up in Winnipeg’s Leila Avenue soccer complex, while around 500 more people slept at the University of Winnipeg recreation complex, the province said.
As of 1 p.m. local time Sunday, the Canadian Armed Forces said they had evacuated over 1,550 residents from the Island Lake region.
McDougall said the evacuations were expected to continue into Sunday. He hoped only leadership and emergency personnel would stay behind.
Timothy Mentuck fled Garden Hill for Winnipeg with his wife, children and grandchildren on Friday, feeling dread as the family of 10 left their home and pets behind.
He said the evacuation experience has been good so far and food has been readily available, but it’s been difficult to get any sleep on the hard cots. His family, like many others, are waiting in a congregate shelter until hotel rooms become available in the city.
“We’ll probably have to wait another day or two to get a room,” Mentuck said. “If I could go home tomorrow, I’d go home tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, cloud cover, light winds and even rain have helped Manitoba’s wildfire service make some progress in battling two blazes growing closer to Thompson, the largest city in Manitoba’s north, where roughly 13,000 residents have been preparing for a possible evacuation.
The wildfires have spread slightly but they are moving to the north, away from the city. However, Mayor Colleen Smook told CBC News said that while she is hopeful with the change in weather patterns, Thompson is still preparing to get everybody out.
“You get a huge wind and anything can happen,” Smook said.
The team of firefighters battling the blazes near Thompson is set to welcome about 40 firefighters from New Zealand and 20 others from Mexico in the coming days, the mayor said.
The city is getting two new helicopters from Quebec to assist firefighters, which will add to an aircraft already in use.
“Everything is ramping up to take care of the fire,” she said. “It’s a big area to cover.”
One of the two wildfires spreading closer to Thompson has stretched over 17,000 hectares, Smook said.
According to the province’s latest fire bulletin, issued Friday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service was responding to 107 active wildfires across the province, which has seen a total of 270 wildfires to date, which is well above the average for this time of year: 201.
Preparations are being made to better protect Thompson in the event the wildfire stretches into the city. Crews have been removing brush, bulldozers are building fire lines and Manitoba Hydro has been clearing power lines.
As a pre-emptive measure and due to worsening air quality, 33 residents were evacuated from a long-term care home on Friday. The city’s medical centres, including its hospital, are also working with patients in critical condition to have a plan for their evacuation.
More than 10,000 residents already pre-registered with the city last week to establish who needs transportation and shelter in the event of an evacuation.
“We’re getting to the point that we feel a little bit more optimistic that should the fire turn … I won’t say we’re totally prepared for it, but we’re definitely in a good spot,” the mayor said.
Community members set up command centre to support evacuees from Garden Hill
Find the latest wildfire information at these sources:
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email [email protected].
