Photo gallery: Looking back on the flood of 1997 Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Friday, Apr. 29, 2022 Last Modified: 1:49 PM CDT Thursday, Mar. 23, 2023

Letters, July 14

I commend James Wilt on his column on Manitoba Hydro’s options for increased electrical generation. For years Manitoba Hydro has put too many eggs in one basket by relying almost entirely on water power for electricity.

Gold mine accused of sparking wildfire that caused evacuations

A Lynn Lake-area gold mine is being sued over a massive wildfire that burned more than 210,000 acres last spring, causing evacuations as the flames closed in on the community.

Provincial conservation officials alleged in court documents filed last year the wildfire started May 7, 2025, after a controlled burn pile reignited at Alamos Gold Inc., located about 7.5 kilometres northeast of Lynn Lake. The blaze spread to within five kilometres of the small northern community.

A Manitoba government spokesman said Monday the fire remains under investigation.

The wildfire led to the late May 2025 evacuations of Lynn Lake, home to nearly 600 residents and located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and Marcel Colomb First Nation.

Photo gallery: Looking back on the flood of 1997

The 1997 Red River flood was the worst to hit southern Manitoba in 145 years.

Before the month-long flood was over, nearly 350,000 acres of farmland was submerged, approximately 350 farmers were affected and about 25,000 residents — 7,000 of them in Winnipeg — were evacuated from their homes.

The river peaked in the city on May 3 and 4.

The Red Sea was a massive body of water — 20 kilometres wide at the American border and about 40 kilometres wide just south of Winnipeg — spreading at will across the valley’s flat farmland.