Close to 100 blazes raging in Manitoba; lightning possible in fire zone By: Chris Kitching Posted: 5:25 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 9, 2025

The number of active wildfires in Manitoba jumped to almost 100 on Wednesday, while the province warned challenging conditions are ahead, and a community prepared to send more evacuees to Ontario.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service said it was responding to 98 fires across the province as existing blazes continued to grow amid high and extreme fire-danger levels.

In a social media post, Tataskweyak Cree Nation’s council said more evacuees from the northern community will be flown to Niagara Falls, Ont., starting Thursday “so they are as comfortable as possible” owing to the limited number of available hotel rooms in Manitoba.

Tataskweyak has been evacuated since May 30 due to fire and a malfunctioning water treatment plant.

About 1,400 evacuees from northern Manitoba were in Niagara Falls as of last week. Some have been there since early June.

More than 300 evacuees left the northwestern town of Leaf Rapids on Tuesday.

A provincial spokesperson said two dozen people stayed in a congregate shelter in a soccer complex on Leila Avenue in Winnipeg Tuesday night.

“It remains open as an option but the priority continues to be finding hotel space,” the spokesperson said.

Leaf Rapids resident Corrine Moose was on one of several buses that made the roughly 975-kilometre drive to Winnipeg.

The buses left Tuesday morning. After stopping at the Leila Avenue site, which is Manitoba’s primary evacuation reception centre, Moose was shuttled to a hotel, where she arrived at about 3 a.m. Wednesday.

“It was tiring, and it was hectic,” she said about the experience.

Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (Nelson House) approved an evacuation order for dozens of Priority 1 residents, including people with terminal illnesses, heart problems or chronic respiratory conditions, and children with complex needs.

More than 100 Priority 1 residents from Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) have been moved to Winnipeg since the weekend, with more set to be flown to Brandon due to heavy smoke, Chief David Monias said.

“These people are having a hard time breathing. Some are going to the nursing station to ask for puffers,” he said.

While multiple fires are burning in the area, Monias said officials are concerned about one to the north of Pimicikamak because the wind is expected to shift and push flames and smoke toward the community.

There have been intermittent closures of Provincial Road 373, which is the only road in and out of Pimicikamak, the incorporated community of Cross Lake and Norway House Cree Nation.

A 12-hour evacuation advisory was issued for Snow Lake, the town said in a social media post. Three fires are burning within 24 km of the community, which was evacuated for a week last month. Snow Lake is home to about 1,100 people.

The province said the southern portion of eastern Manitoba’s Atikaki Provincial Park, including the Bloodvein and Gammon river corridors and Aikens Lake, closed at 5 p.m. Wednesday. All park users were ordered to leave.

New Zealand is sending a seven-member incident management team to Manitoba. A larger deployment of firefighters is expected to arrive in Canada next week, New Zealand’s government said in a news release.

The wildfire service has recorded 252 fires this year, well above the average of 194 for this time of year.

Lightning strikes have started dozens of new fires in the last two weeks. Environment Canada said Wednesday there was a risk of thunderstorms in northern Manitoba overnight.

An air-quality warning was in effect for the Thompson area, with an advisory issued for a wider area that extended south into the Interlake and Whiteshell Provincial Park.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca