Complete evacuation of Poplar River to be finished today

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This article was published 24/08/2017 (2977 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Poplar River First Nation, threatened by a forest fire six kilometres to the south, was bracing Thursday for strong winds expected to begin at night and continue into Friday.

The forecast called for south winds of 30 kilometres per hour gusting to 50 km/h. To prepare, the last 50 reserve residents were evacuated Thursday morning, bringing the total number relocated to about 800.

“Our biggest concern is with the passage of a cold front through the area,” said Gary Friesen, manager of the province’s Manitoba Wildfire Program. “That’s what we’re preparing for. That’s why we’re evacuating people.”

Sprinkler systems are also being installed along the community’s perimeter.

The evacuation took longer than usual because the reserve on the northeast shore of Lake Winnipeg has a short runway, so only small planes carrying eight or nine passengers at a time could operate.

About 100 people remain in Poplar River, including residents staying behind to fight the fire should it advance into the community, as well as provincial firefighters.

Most of the evacuees are staying in Winnipeg but some have been put up in Brandon due to a shortage of hotel rooms, said Canadian Red Cross spokesman Jason Small. They are expected to be back in Winnipeg by Friday night.

The Red Cross is also supporting some residents who were outside the community when the fire started and now can’t return.

The Red Cross is caring for evacuees under a funding agreement with the federal government to assist Manitoba First Nations. The funding covers things such as accommodations, hygiene kits and some entertainment. For example, some early evacuees got to see the closing ceremonies of the Canada Summer Games, Small said.

“We have no idea how long this is going to take,” he added.

The fire is about 7,500 acres in size and was started by lightning two weeks ago. Poplar River is about 345 kilometres north of Winnipeg and not accessible by road.

“Lightning has caused all of the recent fires throughout the forested areas, including another couple big ones we’re working on north of Snow Lake and north of Flin Flon,” Friesen said.

“That area is very, very dry,” he said.

Friesen is hopeful the precipitation forecast for Sunday materializes. Then it’s supposed to get warm and dry again.

“I mean, this is a great summer for most people, but unfortunately it’s a little too dry for us,” he said.