‘We will take what we can get:‘ rain welcomed in wildfires fight

Rain over the weekend offered a bit of hope to areas of Manitoba scorched by wildfires in recent weeks, as Premier Wab Kinew prepares to tour the devastation later this week.

Sheryl Matheson, deputy mayor of Sherridon, one of more 20 communities under evacuation in the province, told the Free Press on Sunday morning rain was falling in the town, which is about 900 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

“They are hoping it helps,” she said, adding that extra wildfire crews fighting the nearby blaze are keeping things stable in the town of about 60 people, all of whom have been evacuated to Dauphin.

Kinew, speaking at an unrelated event Sunday, said his aerial tour of the devastation, slated for Tuesday, could be delayed until later in the week as he hinted he could be joined by members of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberal government.

Kinew said the plan will be to stop in both active wildfire zones to meet with firefighters and other emergency personnel, as well as visit evacuee centres up north.

“We’re planning to visit a mix of the wildfire areas to see what is happening with the current fight, as well as some of the evacuation centres in the north, most likely in Thompson, to visit some evacuees,” Kinew said. “The biggest thing for me is I don’t want to get in the way. The work these wildfire fighters are doing right now is intense.

“It will be a balance of the right location, and people on the frontlines having, say, an hour to spend with us and walk us through what they’re working on.”

Manitoba remains under a provincewide state of emergency, which will remain in effect until the end of the month.

Flin Flon, an evacuated community, was also receiving some light rain on Sunday. Firefighters in Flin Flon and Sherridon have been holding back flames for more than a week. The merged fire covered more than 307,000 hectares as of Saturday.

The provincial fire bulletin on Sunday said that fire, the largest in the province, is about seven times the size of Winnipeg, which is about 46,000 hectares in size.

Flin Flon’s wildfire update on Sunday stated it hadn’t lost any structures to the wildfires, and that a northerly wind was helping push the fire away from the town. Roaming patrols in the area were continuing to identify and address hotspots in the community.

Ground crews in the area were focusing their efforts at Camp Whitney, on Lake Athapapuskow, about 15 kilometres southeast of Flin Flon.

Lori Forbes, the rural municipality of Kelsey’s emergency co-ordinator, said The Pas had also received some rain on Sunday morning, and she was hearing reports there was some in Cranberry Portage, which is under a mandatory evacuation order.

“We will take what we can get,” she said.

Snow Lake, which went under mandatory evacuation late last week, also received some rain, which helped slow wildfire progression. Crews in the town were focusing their efforts Sunday on brush clearing due to the shift in weather and temperature.

An update from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, also known as Cross Lake, on Sunday stated the wildfire in the area, which is nearly 60,000 hectares in size, remains a significant concern, although current weather conditions, which included rain on Sunday, have slowed its growth.

Incident Commander Caleb Finch reported three to four millimetres of rainfall, standing water on roads and lower cloud ceilings contributing to cooler temperatures and higher humidity, all of which are reducing fire activity for the time being.

An update from Pimicikamak said aerial firing operations are being considered to help control the fire, but are on hold at the moment until conditions become hotter and drier.

“The fire continues to threaten both road access and the local power supply, maintaining a high-risk situation for the community,” the update said.

Crews were working on high-priority areas, including securing perimeters near Highway 373 and 374, protecting critical infrastructure, such as power lines and poles, and containing the spread on surrounding islands and heavily timbered areas.

More than 18,000 people have been evacuated in Manitoba, including 7,500 in Pimicikamak and 5,000 in Flin Flon.

The desperately needed rain will continue this week in Manitoba, but sustained showers aren’t in the forecast.

“What we need to quell the fires up north are several days’ worth of sustained rainfall, of course. We don’t see that coming up in the near future, unfortunately,” said Eric Dykes, a Winnipeg-based meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. “That being said, this rain will help.”

As of late Sunday morning, some areas of northern Manitoba had received 10-15 millimetres of rain in the past 24 hours. Sherridon got 13.5 mm, while William River west of Norway House saw 14.7 mm.

Most of this weekend’s rain hit southern parts of the province, kicking up some “dust devil” clouds in the Morden-Winkler area and producing pea-sized hail around Niverville.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Scattered, light showers are expected to continue throughout northern Manitoba this week, particularly Tuesday through Thursday, with Friday expected to be dry.

Meanwhile, the province’s second-largest wildfire, stretching from Bird River to Bissett, remains out of control. The wildfire, spanning more than 203,000 hectares — or more than five times the size of Winnipeg — continues to shutter Nopiming Provincial Park.

There are 28 active wildfires in the province, with a total of 114 to date, which is above the average of 99 at this point in the year.

— with files from Katie May

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca

Scott Billeck
Reporter

Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade’s worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024.  Read more about Scott.

Every piece of reporting Scott produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.