Lynn Lake evacuated second time as flames threaten power lines

Nearly 600 Lynn Lake residents were forced to leave their homes Friday — two weeks after an initial wildfire evacuation ended — as a new blaze threatened to cut electricity to the northwestern Manitoba town.

Lynn Lake Mayor Brandon Dulewich said planes with seating for about 200 evacuees flew to Brandon, where those people will stay in hotel rooms, as the town was evacuated for the second time since May 27.

“The fire is apparently at the main hydro line into town, so we anticipate losing power any minute,” Dulewich told the Free Press shortly after 1:30 p.m.

The Town of Lynn Lake said an outage could last at least one month if the remote transmission line is damaged and needs to be repaired.

Without power, the town said it cannot maintain essential services such as water treatment or food refrigeration, making it unsafe for people to remain for an extended period.

The length of any restoration, if required, would depend on the terrain, which is challenging in places, and if equipment has to be airlifted, Manitoba Hydro spokesman Scott Powell said.

Damage assessments cannot take place until the area is deemed safe.

“Our thoughts are with the folks in Lynn Lake,” Powell said.

The province expected 579 residents to leave, while firefighters and other essential staff stayed behind. The Canadian Red Cross was co-ordinating flights, and providing emergency accommodations and other supports, spokesman Jason Small said.

Some evacuees drove out on their own. Fires near Lynn Lake and Leaf Rapids, which was under an evacuation alert, threatened to cut off highway access to Thompson.

Lynn Lake’s hospital, which closed during the first evacuation, remained open. Staff will stay unless authorities deem the situation to be unsafe, a Northern Health Region spokesperson said.

The hospital has a diesel generator for backup power and satellite internet service.

About 900 residents of Lynn Lake and nearby Marcel Colomb First Nation were out of their homes from late May until June 20 due to an out-of-control fire that was reported May 7.

An evacuation alert remained in place for Lynn Lake afterward. The blaze, measured at 80,120 hectares and caused by human activity, did not pose an immediate threat to the town Friday.

The latest evacuation was prompted by a 419-hectare blaze that spread toward the transmission line, about 14 km south of Lynn Lake. The fire was caused by a lightning strike and detected Monday.

“It’s something nobody could have anticipated,” Dulewich said, noting that firefighting resources are stretched due to the number of fires in the region. “This one just got away on us.”

Recent lightning strikes have started dozens of new, mostly small fires in the northern region.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service reported 64 active fires Friday, for a total of 205 this year. The average for July 4 is 176 total fires.

In a social media post, the City of Thompson said ground crews, water bombers and helicopters were attacking a new fire about eight km north of the city. The province said the blaze, caused by lightning, was eight hectares.

West and northeast areas had high to very high fire danger, with some pockets of extreme fire danger, the province said. High temperatures and strong winds were a concern.

The government’s MB Ready wildfire website said residents of Marcel Colomb, about 30 kilometres east of Lynn Lake, will shelter in place. Generators were readied in case of power outages.

Lynn Lake resident Belinda Merasty, an emergency management team member for Marcel Colomb, feared a second evacuation would happen, but said both communities were prepared.

“We got through this once, and I know we can get through this again,” she said. “A lot of the community members are feeling extremely overwhelmed.”

Lynn Lake firefighter Jeff Cockerill, 70, stayed behind, while his family prepared to head south.

“It’s pretty rough. (Brandon) is quite a ways away,” he said about being separated. “We’re hoping for the best.”

Esso gas station owner Gord Loewen, 61, remained in town to provide fuel, oil and propane to essential workers. He was prepared to power his gas pumps with generators if the electricity is cut off.

“I’ll be around as long as they need some fuel,” said Loewen, who had to leave during the first evacuation. “We’re going to push through. We’re going to make it.”

Last time, some evacuees from Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb stayed in a congregate shelter in Thompson for three weeks due to a hotel room shortage. They slept on cots and used communal showers, said Dulewich, who described the conditions as “inhumane.”

“That’s something we advocated really hard for with the province and the Canadian Red Cross,” he said about hotel rooms. “Our first priority was that people would be looked after properly.”

Evacuees shouldn’t have spent weeks in a shelter, said Merasty, noting the first evacuation negatively affected people’s physical and mental health.

Some evacuees were forced to leave their pets behind or find temporary shelter.

Northern Manitoba Paws in Need, an animal rescue agency in Thompson, took in about 40 dogs and cats from Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb residents last month, founder Vicki McNevin said.

She expected more than a dozen pets from Lynn Lake, Marcel Colomb and Leaf Rapids to be dropped off by the end of Friday. An indoor play area was converted to set up more kennels.

“I don’t have a massive building… but it’s better that they’re out of (the communities) and safe,” McNevin said.

Lynn Lake’s volunteer fire department, helped by firefighters from across Manitoba, has been battling blazes for more than a month.

Dulewich, a firefighter, said the department’s members and town staff have been working seven days a week.

“It’s draining. You can see it in the demeanour and the faces,” he said. “People are tired.”

It’s hard to rest when they get a chance to do so, Dulewich said, because “your mind is racing” and people want to do whatever they can to help.

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“Everyone is doing everything they can,” he said. “I hope this never happens again.”

Last month, the larger fire destroyed some abandoned buildings in Lynn Lake, and razed a majority of cottages at Burge Lake Provincial Park.

Cockerill said the situation was “pretty intense,” while noting the early start and length of this year’s fire season.

“It’s getting to be a little bit much already, but what can you do?” he said. “It hasn’t really been anything like this (before).”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

Every piece of reporting Chris 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.