Province accuses mining company of negligence in Lynn Lake wildfire

Manitoba Conservation investigators believe a massive wildfire that prompted an evacuation of Lynn Lake started at the nearby Alamos Gold Inc. mining site, accusing the company of negligence because it did not use water to extinguish burn piles.

The allegations are outlined in court documents filed by a sergeant working for the conservation service. They stem from an investigation into the wildfire, which is said to have started May 7 after a burn pile reignited at the Toronto-based gold producer’s MacLellan mine site, located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake.

The blaze burned more than 85,000 hectares and got to within five kilometres of Lynn Lake later that month. The community, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, was evacuated and dozens of properties were destroyed.

“The investigation showed that Alamos Gold Inc. was negligent in ensuring that the fires that occurred on May 7, 2025, from burn piles on the MacLellan Mine site set on earlier dates were properly extinguished,” allege the documents, obtained by the Free Press.

The Manitoba Conservation officer filed a sworn affidavit as part of a June 11 production order, requesting access to company reports, drone data and other evidence believed to be held by a pair of contractors working at the mine.

Wildfire investigators went to Lynn Lake on May 7 after the fire was reported. They reviewed photos, interviewed witnesses and examined evidence from the scene, the documents say.

According to the documents, Alamos Gold staff told the investigators a pair of fires started that day, with one located to the south and another to the north.

The company had obtained a permit to burn brush piles between May 1 and May 15, but no burning occurred after May 3. The permit required Alamos to utilize specific water suppression equipment, the documents say.

When investigators asked how the company ensured the burn piles were extinguished, they found “no suppression occurred other than stirring the piles and installing a narrow fire guard,” the documents say.

“Increased wind combined with high temperature, low relative humidity and days of surface drying caused smouldering material within the burn piles to reignite and spread to nearby fine fuels, causing the fire to grow quickly,” the sergeant wrote.

“Had water suppression equipment as required by the regulation been present and readily available and used in combination with the heavy equipment, both the south and north fire may have been suppressed and contained before growing out of control.”

The investigators traced the fire back to a partially intact burn pile containing active embers, the documents say.

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Although the officer noted a third-party company had been contracted to burn the piles, he said Alamos Gold was responsible for ensuring they were properly extinguished because it held the burn permit.

In a statement to the Free Press last week, Alamos said “the fire was deeply unfortunate, part of a tragic wildfire summer in Manitoba.”

“We welcome an investigation, and we will co-operate fully. Everybody has a role to play in fighting this wildfire phenomenon.”

Alamos said it is also conducting an internal investigation.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca

Tyler Searle
Reporter

Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press’s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic’s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022. Read more about Tyler.

Every piece of reporting Tyler 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.