Fire threat triggers mandatory evacuation order for northern community’s 300 residents

About 300 residents of a northern Manitoba community were ordered to leave their homes by 1 p.m. Tuesday because of an out-of-control wildfire, while evacuees from a First Nation were relieved to be finally headed home.

A mandatory evacuation order was issued for Cormorant, about 70 kilometres northeast of The Pas, after residents were told to begin packing bags late Monday night.

“It’s scary because the fire is so close,” said Marie Lavallee, who was getting her six children ready before they had to leave. “We’re on the edge of town where there’s forest.”

In a social-media post, Cormorant’s council said provincial crews were mobilizing to battle the blaze, and a fire break was being constructed.

The 800-hectare fire was detected Monday, following a lightning strike, as per the Manitoba Wildfire Service. It was about 12 kilometres northwest of Cormorant.

When a two-hour evacuation notice was announced Monday night, residents were told to listen for a fire-truck siren and alerts delivered by megaphone if and when a mandatory evacuation order was necessary.

Evacuees who did not have transportation boarded buses bound for the evacuation reception centre at the downtown Winnipeg convention centre.

Manitoba had more than 13,200 wildfire evacuees as of last week amid its worst wildfire season on record in the last 30 years.

The province reported 127 active fires Tuesday, while high winds and dry conditions created a very high fire-danger level for most areas.

Environment and Climate Change Canada issued an air-quality warning for much of Manitoba, including Winnipeg, where the air-quality health index was 10-plus, meaning “very high risk.”

In Cormorant, Lavallee left her bedroom window open Monday night in case the fire-truck siren sounded while she was sleeping.

“I didn’t get very much sleep,” she told the Free Press by phone.

Lavallee has lived in Cormorant since she was six years old. She had never been through a wildfire evacuation until now.

She said she hopes to stay with family or friends in The Pas. For safety and privacy reasons, she doesn’t want her family to stay in a congregate shelter in Winnipeg.

In May, she ran a sprinkler outside her house as a precaution while a wildfire burned in the Clearwater Lake area nearby. Cormorant was shrouded in heavy smoke at the time.

“That one was scary. The sky just turned black, and it was spooky,” Lavallee said. “It was like something out of a horror movie.”

“It’s scary because the fire is so close. We’re on the edge of town where there’s forest.”–Marie Lavallee

Meanwhile, Tataskweyak Cree Nation (Split Lake) Chief Doreen Spence announced Monday night that evacuees are set to return, starting with staff, about two months after they were forced out.

The province said a phased return will begin Wednesday.

A mandatory evacuation order was issued May 30, a day after a wildfire started near the community of about 2,400 people.

At least seven homes were destroyed July 4 when flames swept into Tataskweyak, northeast of Thompson.

The 25,000-hectare blaze was still classified as out of control Tuesday. The fire was caused by human activity, as per the Manitoba Wildfire Service.

Evacuee Alberteen Spence, who has stayed in hotels in Niagara Falls, Ont., and Winnipeg, said she was relieved by news of the repatriation.

“I’m a little bit apprehensive because we don’t know what we are going home to,” she said. “Large sections of the bush have been burned. They told us it doesn’t look the same.”

While she awaited confirmed details, Alberteen Spence said she is among a group that was told to be ready to return Thursday.

Residents were told to throw out food and other contents in their refrigerators and freezers due to multiple power outages.

“That’s another thing I’ve been thinking about,” Alberteen Spence said. “(Food) is going to be rotten.”

Doreen Spence said a planeload of evacuees, who were in Niagara Falls, flew to Thompson on Monday, with a second flight scheduled Tuesday.

About 1,200 evacuees from Manitoba remain in Niagara Falls, as per Ontario’s government.

Tataskweyak planned a repatriation in mid-June, but it was postponed because its water treatment plant malfunctioned and required repairs. The fire flared about two weeks later and destroyed some homes.

Elsewhere in northern Manitoba, work continues to contain fires in the Thompson area, the city said in a social-media post.

Other than hot spots that are being extinguished, “there is no further fire” in Leaf Rapids, the town said in a post. Last week, one normally occupied house was damaged when flames entered the community.

The Town of Snow Lake said crews contained several flare-ups, and continued to extinguish hot spots near the town and mining areas.

The Town of Lynn Lake said crews were working on several fires in the region, including two that merged to become one, to protect the community and Manitoba Hydro lines.

A provincewide state of emergency is in effect until Aug. 8.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca