Emergency shelter ready for wildfire evacuees

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/07/2022 (1335 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mid-afternoon on Saturday at the University of Winnipeg’s Axworthy Health and RecPlex, a dozen Red Cross volunteers are unfolding rows of green cots.

The gymnasium will act as a temporary shelter for members of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, who were forced to evacuate their homes when a wildfire broke out Thursday afternoon. By the end of the day, there will be 600 cots filling the gym space.

The fire bulletin published by the Manitoba Wildfire Service on Friday said the wildfire in Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and the greater Pukatawagan region in northern Manitoba near the Saskatchewan border was estimated to cover more than 24,000 acres. At the time the bulletin was published, there were 39 wildfires burning across the province.

Jason Small, Manitoba communications manager for the Red Cross, told reporters that the emergency shelter space will start being filled once hotels reach capacity. More than 1,000 people were expected to arrive from the community Saturday, he said.

“Currently, our plan is still to get as many people as possible into hotel, but if we do run out of hotel space, we do have the shelter,” Small said. “It’s the last choice, but there are a lot of people coming out of the community so we have to be prepared.”

If hotel beds fill quickly enough, the Red Cross may welcome people to the emergency shelter as soon as this evening, Small said. Currently, community members from the First Nation are scattered throughout Thompson, The Pas, Sherridon and Winnipeg.

Staff at the locally owned Missinippi Airways and the Keewatin Railway Co. have been working tirelessly to evacuate community members from the area.

This afternoon, David Coholan, the director of flight operations at Missinippi Airways, told the Free Press that most of the community has been evacuated. He estimates that the aircraft transported 136 people.

Now, the airline is redirecting its efforts to bring equipment up to firefighters. From his understanding, most people are being transported to Winnipeg.

“We see the end of the tunnel right now,” Colohan said. “Instead of pulling people out, now we’re bringing equipment in and will continue to do that until that mission is complete.”

Small said that Red Cross continues to be in frequent communication with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation leadership. The organization has worked with the community before, including during a COVID-19 outbreak in March 2021.

“We’re also greatly appreciative of folks in Opaskwayak Cree Nation. They’ve worked with them in The Pas to let us set up the staging area for their community facilities,” Small said.

On Saturday, Chief Lorna Bighetty told CBC News that another 200 to 300 people are still waiting to be transported from the community. She also expressed concerns about COVID-19 transmission due to the close quarters evacuees are in.

“It was really scary yesterday because you could see the fire right close to where we were standing, and you can feel the heat,” Bighetty said.

Until the fire clears up, Coholan said the airline will continue to be of help to the community in any way.

“We’ve been given full authority to just do whatever needs to be done to ensure people are safe,” Coholan said.

“It is our goal between planes and trains to get everybody out by the end of the night,” Small said.

cierra.bettens@freepress.mb.ca