The wildfire gnawing at the edge of Flin Flon is being fought by some 200 firefighters, but the battle is really in the hands of Mother Nature, the mayor says.
“Generally, it depends which way the winds blow and how hard they blow and what direction they’re going to come from. It’s just a fluid situation,” George Fontaine told Heather Hiscox on CBC Morning Live on Monday.
“I’ve been expecting to hear catastrophic news, and so the fact that I’ve not heard that has really made me feel a whole lot better. But we’re still in the same situation. It’s a time bomb.”
The vast majority of the city of about 5,000 in northwestern Manitoba was cleared out on Wednesday, with the remaining few — members of city council and some civic employees — leaving Thursday.
Fontaine, who’s staying at his son’s home in Winnipeg, said the last update he received was Sunday night and so far no structures within the city have burned.
“I’m hoping that it goes in a positive direction and we continue to do what we do. Everybody’s doing everything they can,” he said.
“It’s really at the mercy of Mother Nature right now. Anything could happen.”
Flin Flon, Man., ‘at the mercy of mother nature,’ mayor says as wildfires burn
The fire, which was first detected on May 27, is approximately 40,000 hectares and still listed by the province as out of control. In addition to Flin Flon, a mandatory evacuation order is in place for Big Island Lake, Schist Lake and Bakers Narrows.
Late Sunday afternoon, Deputy Mayor Allison Dallas-Funk posted an update on the City of Flin Flon’s Facebook page, saying the winds had picked up to such an extreme degree that crew lost the 12 hours of progress they had made trying to push the fire back.
However, the forecast for Monday calls for more favourable weather — cooler temperatures and some rain.
It was 25 C on Sunday with wind gusts over 50 km/h. A high of 19 C is expected Monday with a few showers through the morning and into the afternoon. Winds, though, are still expected to be 30-50 km/h before easing up in the evening.
Along with the 200 firefighters, the Flin Flon response includes two heavy helitankers that can carry massive bags of water, three smaller helicopter buckets, three water bombers and 19 pumper trucks, Fontaine said.
“We have everything that can be thrown at it that’s available. Provincially, they are stretched so thin,” he said.
As of Sunday (the most recent update from the province), there were 25 active wildfires in Manitoba. There has been a total of 106 already this season, far above the province’s 20-year annual average of 84 at this time of year.
In a Facebook post on Sunday titled “Keeping misinformation at bay,” Dallas-Funk said it was important to underscore that no structures have been lost and no injuries have been reported.
“False rumours about fatalities or injuries … have been a serious barrier to our firefighters being able to focus on battling the blaze. Volunteers from all of the communities involved have been bombarded with phone calls and messages from worried loved ones trying to track them down and make sure they’re okay,” she wrote.
“It puts stress on our firefighters, and on the families they left to help protect our community. We assure you that we will share significant events that impact our community members, our firefighters or their families as soon as we are aware of them.”
Fontaine reiterated that in his interview with Hiscox on Monday.
“For those people who are passing on stories like that, please don’t. There is no one that’s been hurt,” he said.
“I feel so bad for the families who know that their relatives are there fighting fires. To hear stories that are not true … that’s got to be gut-wrenching to the people who are living on the outside.”
More than 17,000 people are being or have been evacuated from northern, western and eastern regions of the province.
Mandatory evacuations are in place for:
Voluntary evacuation orders are in place for:
The Manitoba FireView map includes locations, sizes and other information about the wildfires.
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email [email protected].
