Firefighters in Garden Hill protect lumberyard from flames

A wildfire threatens to burn construction material on the Garden Hill First Nation that is needed to build homes in the surrounding region in northeastern Manitoba.

Alex McDougall, interim grand chief of Anisininew Okimawin, which represents four Island Lake First Nations, estimates there’s a shortage of 400 homes.

If the fire consumes the material, it could take years to re-build inventory, partly due to the remoteness of the area that requires supplies be trucked in on winter roads.

“If the materials do go up, that means that they’ll probably have to go through the process of filing a claim for the material, trying to get that resupplied, and again, falling behind trying to respond to the chronic backlog of housing that our communities experience,” McDougall said Tuesday.

The blaze that threatens Garden Hill, which has burned 2,865 hectares thus far, started on the south side of the community, where the bulk lumberyard is located.

Fire crews are stationed at the yard day and night and have installed sprinklers to protect the supplies.

“It would be a devastating loss to the community if that material was to burn,” McDougall said. “All too often as a very quick fix within our northern communities, what we see is portable homes and mobile homes being brought in, which aren’t suitable to the environment and don’t last long.”

The chief said no homes or material had been lost as of Tuesday.

About 90 per cent of Garden Hill residents had been evacuated as of Tuesday, but about 1,000 priority residents in St. Theresa Point and Wasagamack need to be evacuated.

McDougall was told late Monday that Stevenson Island, another community in the region, may also have to evacuate. The only airstrip that’s big enough to accommodate the Hercules aircraft, which the military is using to evacuate the area, is on Stevenson Island, which has 400 residents.

On Tuesday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service said 122 wildfires were burning. This season, there have been 305 wildfires to date, well above the average of 221 fires for this date.

In total, 12,000 Manitoba residents remained evacuated from eight communities. More than 6,000 were being housed in more than 2,100 Manitoba hotel rooms, while about 1,300 were staying in Ontario hotel rooms.

The province has room for more than 7,000 evacuees at shelters, Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, said Monday.

The northern city of Thompson continues to be under an evacuation notice owing to a nearby fire which has burned 163,000 hectares.

Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook said in a daily radio update that firefighters continue to remove vegetation to reduce the fire risk in and around the city of 13,000 people.

Twenty firefighters from Mexico are helping to prevent the spread of the fire toward Thompson, Smook said.

Thompson residents were asked to fill out pre-evacuation forms. The city has said an evacuation would be called if the nearby fire cuts off Highway 6, the vital link to the south.

The province remains at a moderate to high fire danger level, the bulletin said.

Much of Central Canada and Manitoba were placed under special air quality statements or warnings early Monday morning amid smoke from wildfires.

Environment Canada advised residents to limit time outdoors and watch for smoke exposure symptoms.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca