Flin Flon residents debriefed on fire fight, warned to ‘keep a bag packed’

There was a moment during the early days of the fire fight when Flin Flon fire chief Jason Kuras thought the city would be engulfed by the monstrous blaze.

“There was times, I won’t lie, where I was scared that we were gonna lose the town,” he told a hall full of residents, two days after they were permitted to return home following a 29-day evacuation order.

Flin Floners gathered in the community hall Thursday evening to ask questions about the battle and what’s next for the town.

Kuras detailed the department’s efforts, including a few close calls that nearly left the city burning.

The Flin Flon fire department first assessed the blaze, which originated near Creighton, Sask., on May 27, when it jumped the provincial border into Manitoba.

Kuras soon realized the blaze was too large to be contained by the city’s 29-member crew.

“It was huge,” Kuras told the crowd.

The following day, an area near Cliff Lake — kilometers away from the city’s perimeter — was identified as a critical area to protect. If the flames continued past the area, the city would be in serious danger.

“It was… a pinch point and it was the only way we’d be able to effectively fight it with the resources we had at the time,” Kuras said.

That same day, additional municipal support arrived to assist. To date, 194 firefighters from 53 municipal fire departments have assisted with the efforts in Flin Flon, along with 15 office of the fire commissioner members that brought 18 fire trucks, 29 apparatuses and five boats with them.

At one point, Kuras said, the blaze was travelling at a rate of 50 metres per minute. In one night, the fire traversed 19 kilometres.

“It’s a very difficult fire to put out because it burns so hot, so fast, it skips pockets of vegetation and then circles back and burns again,” he said.

While the wildfire service declared the risk to residents was low, citizens expressed concern for the rest of the summer and future fire seasons, as well as how the city is working to protect its assets should another fire threaten the community.

“You should keep a bag packed,” Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said at the meeting, which was also streamed online. “You should understand that this could turn around again. Nobody’s expecting that but if it happens, don’t be saying you weren’t warned, you were.”

Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Wildfire Service, has repeatedly warned the fire risk in Manitoba remains present and residents in high-risk areas should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice.

Progress continues with wildfires, but there is an elevated fire danger in the southern half of the province, as well as the northeastern corner, the wildfire service said Friday afternoon.

Four communities remain evacuated across Manitoba owing to wildfire danger: Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake), Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), some areas of Nopiming Provincial Park and Wallace Lake Provincial Park.

Five of the 17 active wildfires remained out of control Friday.

Mitchell Foster, owner of the Gateway Tempo gas station and convenience store in Flin Flon, was relieved to come home to his business and home still standing.

He feared the town would burn like Jasper, Alta., did in July 2024 and considered relocating his family elsewhere in Manitoba to find work.

At the time of the devastating fire, Jasper officials estimated 358 of the town’s 1,113 structures were lost.

Foster expected his hometown to meet a similar fate.

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“I looked at my wife and said, ‘where do you want to go?’” Foster said Friday.

Thankfully, it never came to that and, as more Flin Floners returned Friday, some sense of normalcy was starting to settle in.

Foster had minimal cleanup to worry about: a few shelves to dust, coolers to wipe down and some expiry dates on products to check.

He’s happy to return to business as usual.

“It’s a miracle, honestly,” he said.

Foster started a fundraiser for those who lost homes and belongings in Denare Beach, Sask., a community 20 km southwest of Flin Flon. He is also raising funds for the local food bank, so returning residents can fill their fridges.

No thefts or looting in Flin Flon during the evacuation period were reported to RCMP, spokesman Sgt. Paul Manaigre said in an email Friday.

RCMP continues to have additional resources in the region providing assistance with patrols and responding to calls for service, he said.

Medical services in Flin Flon are slowly getting back online, too.

The city’s emergency department and inpatient unit are open for emergencies, while the primary care centre will reopen Monday.

There are physician and nursing services on site, but there are no lab, X-ray, or non-emergent inpatient services currently available.

As the wildfire situation continues to stabilize, the Northern Health Region is working on returning acute and long-term care patients to the community, the health authority said in a social media bulletin.

Public health, mental health and substance use services will be back online Monday.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

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