Two flights of N.W.T. wildfire evacuees now in Winnipeg

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This article was published 20/08/2023 (783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A second – and, for now, final – flight carrying evacuees escaping wildfires in the Northwest Territories arrived in Winnipeg Saturday evening.

One flight carrying 15 people and five pets arrived early Saturday morning, and a second carrying 27 more evacuees arrived that night. There are no more flights expected to land in Winnipeg from Yellowknife as this point.

“At this time, no additional flights are scheduled to land in Winnipeg, but the province will remain in a state of readiness should more people need assistance,” a spokesperson for the provincial government said in an email Sunday.

Only a few thousand of Yellowknife’s population of around 20,000 remain in the city and around half of them are emergency workers, according to a Canadian Press report Sunday.

Cooler, damper weather Saturday gave firefighters a short reprieve, but there were still 236 active fires across the N.W.T. as of Sunday afternoon, with one being registered as a new fire in the last 24 hours.

Yellowknife is currently listed as “high” on the N.W.T. fire danger scale, but the capital forecasted to hit “extreme” levels by Tuesday, according to the territorial government’s wildfire update webpage.

Evacuees arrived at the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. They were bused to a reception centre run by the province, then transported to hotels, said Michel Rosset, the airport’s manager of communications.

“We essentially worked with our airline partners to ensure that we could get them through the terminal into an area where we had refreshments and snacks, some toiletries set up, whatever they need to kind of get settled in the first few moments here in Winnipeg, and to make sure that they have everything that they need before they board those buses en route to the province’s reception centre,” he said.

The province is ready to receive as many as 3,000 evacuees if needed.

The Red Cross was called in by the province and has met the evacuees in Winnipeg, senior director of communications Leianne Musselman said in an email.

“The Red Cross has teams at hotels to welcome people as they arrive and to provide comfort and care as they get settled,” she said.

“The Canadian Red Cross will continue to work closely with the Government of Manitoba and (the Emergency Management Office) to determine how to best support people impacted by the fires.”

There is no set return date for Yellowknife’s displaced people.

At an unrelated press conference Sunday, NDP Leader Wab Kinew expressed support for the evacuees who have arrived in Winnipeg and for those fighting and fleeing wildfires across the country.

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“I know there were many times in Manitoba’s recent history where we’ve had to turn to other provinces and territories for help during our times of need, so I’m very bolstered by our province’s willingness to step up now that folks from Yellowknife and other parts of the Northwest Territories need assistance,” he said.

“We’re more than happy to answer the call, and we wish you the best during this difficult time.”

Devastating wildfires have also hit British Columbia, with 30,000 people across the province under evacuation orders and a provincial state of emergency in place.

On Saturday, the B.C. provincial government issued an emergency order that restricted non-essential use of temporary accomodations including hotels and RV parks in several cities to ensure available space for evacuees and emergency workers.

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca

Malak Abas
Reporter

Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.

Every piece of reporting Malak 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.