Premier Wab Kinew and provincial officials are providing an update Thursday morning on Manitoba’s wildfire situation, a day after two people died near the community of Lac du Bonnet.
CBC News is livestreaming the 9 a.m. news conference here and on CBC Gem.
The bodies of a man and a woman who were trapped by the flames of the out-of-control fire in the rural municipality of Lac du Bonnet were recovered by police Wednesday morning.
Mounties got a report Tuesday that people were stranded in the area but first responders couldn’t reach them until Wednesday morning because of the extreme conditions.
Loren Schinkel, reeve of the RM of Lac du Bonnet, saw videos taken by public works and hydro employees of the Grausdin Point area “and frankly, it’s devastating, it’s heart wrenching,” he said Thursday.
“We’ve lost 28 dwellings in that area and it goes without saying the loss of life. You can’t really describe it in words. I just want them to know that we’re all suffering with them. At the end of the day, we are one big family here.”
The area received a bit of rain overnight into Thursday but not near enough, Schinkel said. But, he added, “if the wind stays down we’re in good fortune.”
An estimated 800 to 1,000 people have been forced from their homes in the RM but Schinkel is optimistic some good news is coming.
“We’re hoping there’s going to be some modifications today in the evacuation orders. I haven’t spoken with emergency measures yet but I think there’ll be some movement today.”
As of mid-day Wednesday there were 24 fires burning in the province, with six requiring significant resources. Six states of emergency have been declared and five provincial parks, three local authorities, three northern communities and 24 cottage subdivisions had been issued mandatory evacuation orders.
The primary concern is the RM of Lac du Bonnet and Nopiming Provincial Park, Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister for the Conservation Officer Service and Manitoba Wildfire Service, said on Wednesday.
The RM of Lac du Bonnet fire was last estimated to be about 4,000 hectares in size. Another fire northeast of there, near Manitoba’s Nopiming Provincial Park, was listed as being 100,000 hectares on Wednesday.
Details about the fires burning in the province are available on the government Fireview map.
