‘Imminent danger’: Leaf Rapids issues evacuation order as Manitoba wildfire situation escalates again By: Chris Kitching Posted: 12:15 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 7, 2025 Last Modified: 5:43 PM CDT Monday, Jul. 7, 2025 Updates

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Lightning strikes triggered a sudden escalation of wildfires in Manitoba — prompting the evacuation of Leaf Rapids and declaration of a state of local emergency in Thompson — while the number of active blazes surpassed 80 on Monday.

Leaf Rapids residents were ordered to leave by 10 a.m. Tuesday as Thompson’s emergency was declared as a precaution in case conditions worsen.

“We’ve had a lot of lightning go through the province. We were seeing over 25 new fires every 24-hour period,” Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said Monday.

“When lightning strikes, it can take three to five days, sometimes even longer, for that smoke to pop up, so that’s what we’re dealing with now, a lot of starts from lightning, and more forecast on the horizon, unfortunately.”

The province said 81 fires were active as of Monday afternoon. Most were in the northern region.

The 20-year average at this time of year is 187 fires. Manitoba has recorded 235 fires in 2025, with more than one million hectares of land — an area 21 times the size of Winnipeg — being burned.

Hayward said 16 active fires were near communities or had the potential to affect them if conditions changed.

Thompson was on alert while a roughly 6,000-hectare fire, caused by lightning and detected Friday, burned about 15 kilometres north of the city.

“At this time, based on the current conditions, the work that we’re doing and the forecast conditions, we don’t expect Thompson to be in immediate danger over the next couple of days, at least,” Hayward said.

Crews were using bulldozers to build fire guards to protect the city. Sprinklers were set up at Thompson’s airport.

The province is preparing in case at least parts of Thompson have to evacuate, said Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization. Staff are looking at hotel options within and outside Manitoba.

Thompson was home to 13,000 people as of the 2021 census.

“We were seeing over 25 new fires every 24-hour period.”–Kristin Hayward

Stevens said Manitoba was not considering another provincewide state of emergency as of Monday because it had the “resources and tools” it needed to respond to the situation. A previous state of emergency triggered federal aid.

In Leaf Rapids, 328 residents are expected to leave the small community. Some will travel about 975 kilometres to Winnipeg on buses.

The Town of Leaf Rapids, which is under provincial administration, said in a Facebook post it was advised a wildfire posed “imminent danger” to life and property.

Hayward said a roughly 5,100-hectare blaze, about 14 km southwest of Leaf Rapids, is expected to pick up again as warmer and drier conditions return. The fire, detected June 27, was caused by lightning.

Stevens said a soccer complex on Leila Avenue in Winnipeg, which was previously used as a shelter, will reopen as a reception centre Tuesday. It can be used as a shelter again, if required, she said.

Heavy smoke prompted O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (South Indian Lake), northeast of Leaf Rapids, to relocate residents who have breathing or medical conditions.

Manitoba had more than 6,600 wildfire evacuees as of Monday, down from a mid-June peak of more than 22,000. Canadian Armed Forces members helped evacuate some communities last month.

Six communities or populated areas remain evacuated: Lynn Lake, Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon Falls), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), parts of Nopiming Provincial Park, Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake) and the Wallace Lake cottage association.

Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb have evacuated twice since late May. The latest was prompted by a potential power outage.

Tataskweyak was preparing to repatriate evacuees when a fire flared up Friday, destroying at least seven homes.

“People are feeling tired and getting frustrated with the fires and the smoke.”–Chief David Monias

Nearly 120 residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation — those with breathing or medical conditions, and some families — have left since the weekend due to heavy smoke from nearby fires, Chief David Monias said.

Monias said 60 hotel rooms in Winnipeg were set aside for the evacuees.

The entire community of more than 7,500 people was evacuated for about three weeks until June 16.

“People are feeling tired and getting frustrated with the fires and the smoke. Of course, nobody wants to leave home,” Monias said.

Hayward said crews were looking for spot fires associated with a roughly 3,000-hectare blaze north of Pimicikamak and the incorporated community of Cross Lake. The blaze was caused by lightning and was detected Thursday.

A separate fire, at more than 80,000 hectares, led to intermittent closures of Provincial Road 373, the only road in and out for residents of those communities and Norway House Cree Nation. The fire was caused by human activity. It was detected May 20.

Many active fires are within the boundaries of federal Northern and Arctic Affairs Minister Rebecca Chartrand’s riding of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.

Chartrand said she and a team of constituency officers are in contact with local and provincial leaders, including Premier Wab Kinew, in case federal government is needed.

She said she has told the premier Ottawa is “on standby.”

“We want to make sure that people are feeling heard, and that they’re getting the support that they need,” the MP said.

In eastern Manitoba, the primary concern is still a massive blaze stretching from Bird River, throughout Nopiming Provincial Park and to areas east of Bissett.

The fire, detected May 12 after a lightning strike, has grown by about 3,000 hectares — spreading into South Atikaki Provincial Park — since last week.

Hayward said the blaze is active mainly on the north side, but there is some intensity around Beresford Lake. Some cottages were previously destroyed in the Beresford area.

Hayward said 137 structures across Manitoba have been confirmed destroyed by wildfires this year.

— with files from Nicole Buffie

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca