Manitoba has declared a provincewide state of emergency as wildfires continue to threaten communities across the province.
An emergency alert issued at around 5:25 p.m. CT Wednesday said the measure was due to rapidly spreading wildfires and extreme fire conditions in northern and eastern Manitoba.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said the “significant step” will involve the evacuation of about 17,000 people as fires continued to intensify throughout Wednesday.
“This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people’s living memory,” he said during a Wednesday evening news conference.
Evacuation orders have been issued for the city of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and the northern community of Cross Lake, along with Pukatawagan Cree Nation, also kown as Mathias Colomb First Nation, Kinew said.
The majority of the evacuees will head to Winnipeg, he said, and will be housed at large facilities, including soccer fields and arenas.
Kinew said Prime Minister Mark Carney has accepted the province’s request to have the Canadian Armed Forces step in to help. The military will be deployed to fly thousands of people to safety “in hours instead of days,” the premier said.
The wildfire threatening Flin Flon, a city of roughly 5,000, started in Saskatchewan and spread into Manitoba. Kinew said he’s in talks with Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe to ensure people on both sides of the border are taken care of amid health-care disruptions caused by the fire.
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An immediate evacuation order has been issued for the northwestern Manitoba city of Flin Flon, as a fire that began over the Saskatchewan border continues to spread.
Mayor George Fontaine confirmed to CBC News in a Wednesday afternoon phone call that all residents will have to leave by midnight.
On Tuesday, the city asked residents to pre-register in case of a potential evacuation. Anyone who has not yet registered can do so via the City of Flin Flon’s website, officials said in a release posted to Facebook on Wednesday afternoon.
Residents have been told to make arrangements to stay with friends and family, or call the 211 health and social services line for information about shelters in Winnipeg.
Anyone who needs information or assistance can go to the community hall, the City of Flin Flon said.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will be speaking about the wildfire situation at a news conference at 5:30 p.m. CT. CBC will livestream that conference here and on CBC Gem.
The wildfire near Flin Flon, a city of about 5,000 located approximately 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, is one of 18 wildfires actively burning across the province.
The fire started earlier this week at a landfill in Creighton, Sask., just across the border from Flin Flon.
The Town of Creighton also issued an evacuation order on Wednesday afternoon, asking its citizens to leave as soon as possible.
The town said Creighton residents who don’t have transportation to get out of town should meet at the arena Thursday morning.
The fire has grown to 1,000 hectares in size, according to Manitoba’s most recent status report for the blaze as of Wednesday at 5 p.m.
More to come
