Relieved Flin Flon wildfire evacuees learn they can return home next week

Relieved Flin Flon evacuees learned Thursday evening that, barring any further wildfire threats, they’ll be allowed to go home next week.

All 5,100 residents of the northwestern Manitoba city were ordered to leave three weeks ago.

Some say they expect it will take time for life to return to normal. Health-care services and food supplies will be limited upon their return.

“We were just relieved to finally have a date and to know the fire has moved far enough from the community to deem it safe for the general population to come back,” said Tim Dubreuil, whose family has been staying at a friend’s home in Arran, Sask.

They plan to drive home Wednesday, when the mandatory evacuation order is expected to be lifted at 9 a.m.

“We’ll hit up a grocery store and make sure we have enough provisions,” Dubreuil said.

The fire that chased them out of their homes May 28 was more than 370,000 hectares Friday, after merging with other blazes.

No structures were reported destroyed within Flin Flon’s limits. Some losses were reported outside the city.

Dubreuil and fellow Flin Flon resident Paige Bada were grateful to firefighters, who held back flames that raged on the town’s doorstep.

Bada, who’s been staying with family in Minnedosa, was relieved to have a return date.

“It felt like you could get rid of all the uncertainty,” she said. “I’m looking forward to decompressing, being in my own space and getting myself organized.”

Elsewhere in northwestern Manitoba, about 905 evacuees started returning to Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon) after mandatory evacuation orders lifted Friday morning.

The orders were issued May 27 and 28, respectively, due to an out-of-control fire that was more than 71,000 hectares Friday.

Lynn Lake remained under an evacuation alert.

“While it is now safe to return, residents must remain prepared to evacuate again with little notice if fire conditions worsen,” the town said in a statement on social media.

North of Lynn Lake, Burge Lake Provincial Park, where close to 30 cottages and homes were destroyed, was still closed.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service reported 22 active fires Friday, with moderate to high fire danger across the province. The government is anticipating new fires caused by lightning.

Quebec sent 100 firefighters to Manitoba Friday, as per the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, replacing a team of 60 that left Thursday after a two-week mission.

The decision to allow Flin Flon residents to return was based on assessments and guidance from the Manitoba Wildfire Service and a command centre that is overseeing the fire.

All critical services, including police, fire, hospital and water treatment, are expected to be in place as of Saturday, Deputy Mayor Alison Dallas-Funk said in a video on social media.

Skeleton crews are expected to be operating essential businesses or services, including Manitoba Hydro, telecommunications, food, fuel and pharmacy, by Sunday, she said.

Staff members from secondary businesses — including medical services, hardware and clothing stores, restaurants, vehicle repair shops, mail and shipping — will be allowed back Saturday to prepare for evacuees’ return.

“It’s very relieving to be able to let some people back in the community,” Mayor George Fontaine told the Free Press.

People who are “medically vulnerable” and have a safe place to stay should consider delaying their return because health-care services will not be fully restored, Fontaine said.

Dallas-Funk said people who need X-rays or dialysis will not be able to access those services for some time.

Fontaine said residents who return Wednesday or days afterward should bring essentials and any other supplies — from food to toilet paper — because stocks in local stores will be limited.

“I don’t know what’s going to be in stock and who’s going to buy them out,” he said. “It will be a little COVID-ish, what it’s going to be like at the start.”

In a social media post, Randy Dumenko, general manager of North of 53 Co-op, said the store will initially have a limited number of staff, and a “very limited” selection of perishable products, including meat, deli, produce, dairy and bread.

Refrigerated food had to be thrown out after a power outage, he said.

Dumenko said it will be “well into” the second week of July before the store will be somewhat back to full service.

Highways and roads in the area are expected to be congested Wednesday. Transportation was being arranged for evacuees, including those with pets, who travelled to Winnipeg, Brandon or other communities by bus during the evacuation.

“Nobody is going to be left behind,” Dallas-Funk said in the video.

She asked for patience because “not everything will be up and running 100 per cent” when people return.

A wellness centre will offer public health and mental-health services, hygiene and cleaning kits, and a food bank.

The neighbouring town of Creighton, Sask. — home to about 1,200 people — is lifting its mandatory evacuation order Sunday. Nearby Denare Beach, Sask., where some homes were destroyed, is reopening that day, as well.

“I’m looking forward to decompressing, being in my own space and getting myself organized.”–Paige Bada

Evacuees from Pimicikamak Cree Nation continued to return to the northern Manitoba community by plane and vehicle Friday. The community of about 7,500 people reopened Monday.

Chief David Monias said about 380 evacuees remain in Niagara Falls, Ont. They were moved to hotels there within days of Pimicikamak’s evacuation May 28.

Monias, after meeting with representatives of the federal and provincial governments, and the Canadian Red Cross, said flight schedules were being finalized.

“They want to get back to normal, and reunite with their family and friends,” he said of the evacuees.

A provincewide state of emergency is in place until at least Thursday.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca