Manitoba expands evacuation orders as 11 wildfires are ‘out of control’

Wildfire evacuations are ongoing as Manitoba’s state of emergency continues.

Northern evacuees near Norway House are making their way out as the provincial wildfire response team reopened highways to allow their passage. Highway 373, from Highway 6 to Norway House was reopened Sunday morning and is set to close again at 9 p.m. Sunday owing to the present wildfire threat.

Eleven major wildfires in the province were deemed “out of control” on Saturday as widespread evacuations continued and the hotspot list grew.

Bakers Narrows Provincial Park, Wanless and surrounding areas in northwestern Manitoba have been put under mandatory evacuation orders.

Residents of Cranberry Portage were also mandated to leave — not due to encroaching flames, but rather in response to wildfire-damaged hydro lines that are expected to keep the community dark for multiple days.

“Large areas of very high-to-extreme fire danger persist throughout the province today and human activity continues to significantly contribute to Manitoba’s current wildfire situation,” the Manitoba Wildfire Service reported in an afternoon fire bulletin.

The bulletin said there was a minor chance of rain in some areas, but the prospect of thunderstorms was worrisome as it could ignite more fires.

It also flagged concerns related to “very strong winds in western Manitoba” that could spread flames.

Meantime, Flin Flonners shared screenshots of their door cameras’ smoke-filled footage on social media as they sought answers and exchanged information. There were no structural fires in the mining town as of 9 a.m.

“The hardest part of waiting is not being there to be able to help or do something. I’m not one to sit around and watch,” said Ryan Daneliuk, who was forced to pack up his belongings and flee for cleaner air for the second time in under 72 hours.

Daneliuk, a 46-year-old from Flin Flon, drove eight hours to Winnipeg on Saturday from a cabin in Bakers Narrows Provincial Park to join the rest of his family.

He’d originally stayed behind in the hopes of helping emergency responders; Daneliuk has an arsenal of trucks and heavy machinery as part of his landscaping and snow removal business.

The City of Flin Flon described smoke visibility as “extremely poor” in a morning post on Facebook. Aircraft was unable to fly in the area, it said.

Daneliuk said he’s counting his blessings — his loved ones and pets have roofs over their heads at a hotel — as he waits to find out whether his house, cabin and business will survive this unprecedented spring wildfire season.

“We were over seven feet of snow this year — seven and a half, maybe — and you’d just never know that there was any snow in the bush,” he said. “It is bone dry.”

The Canadian Armed Forces, Manitoba’s Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Team known as CAN TF-4 continue aiding with evacuations, as per the latest provincial fire bulletin.

Efforts are ongoing to fly residents out of Cross Lake, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, also known as Pukatawagan.

Leaders from evacuated communities and emergency shelter organizers in Winnipeg have asked police to provide regular check-ins indefinitely, said Bonnie Emerson, superintendent of community engagement for the Winnipeg Police Service.

“We know there’s predation and people who are looking — or have in the past looked to exploit (evacuees) — and we have been asked to provide a presence for deterrence,” Emerson said Saturday, following an unrelated news conference.

“We’ve also communicated, both to our members and to the people at the congregate centres, that it is not for enforcement purposes.”

Emerson said WPS is helping the Manitoba RCMP prepare a handout with safety tips to connect anyone who is displaced to essential services in their temporary location.

Congregate shelters have been set-up in Thompson, Winkler and Portage la Prairie.

Cranberry Portage residents were urged to travel to Winnipeg’s Billy Mosienko Arena, one of several makeshift shelters, when an optional evacuation order turned into a mandatory one.

The rural municipality of Kelsey issued an emergency bulletin at 8:26 a.m. Saturday. The RM has been asking area residents to prepare emergency kits and evacuation plans throughout the week.

“This fire is currently established on both sides of Highway #10 north of Sturgeon Landing turn off and South of Egg Lake. Multiple Hydro poles are damaged and burnt,” Lori Forbes, municipal emergency coordinator for the region, wrote in an alert.

Forbes said Hydro had determined power would be out for an extended period.

“It’s still an area of active wildfires, so we can’t safely access the area to assess damage or estimate when power could be restored,” Peter Chura, a media relations officer for Manitoba Hydro, said in an email.

Hydro’s outage map shows 478 customers have been affected in Cranberry Portage.

The Canadian Red Cross has registered upwards of 8,900 people from more than 3,500 households evacuated due to wildfires in Manitoba.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca