More evacuees from northern Manitoba on their way

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This article was published 02/09/2017 (2968 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Another 1,500 evacuees from fire-ravaged areas of northern Manitoba are headed to Winnipeg, Canadian Red Cross officials confirmed Saturday.

Garden Hill First Nation requested the additional evacuations because of smoke concerns.

“My understanding is this is a smoke event, and chief and council in consultation with the federal government decided it was time to evacuate more people. At this point in time it’s just Garden Hill,” said Shawn Feely, vice president for the Manitoba and Nunavut division of the Canadian Red Cross.

“These individuals are going to the two shelters we have already set up.”

The latest evacuees are being airlifted due to health concerns, and the group includes smaller children and elders, Feely said.

“We anticipate about 900 or so evacuated to Winnipeg. Tomorrow we have other locations we’ll be evacuating to, but at this point in time we are focused at our task at hand, which is getting people here to Winnipeg,” he said.

Military Hercules aircraft were expected to land in Winnipeg Saturday with many of the latest evacuees, but by midday, seven smaller aircraft had already landed with people fleeing the smoke.

A raging wildfire forced the evacuation of thousands this week from the Island Lake region, about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

Manitoba’s provincial website was jammed Saturday. Traffic to an interactive map with updates on the fire front from the Island Lake region was virtually impossible to upload by mid-afternoon.

By week’s end, the wildfire had burned over 20,000 hectares of forest. Smoke from the fire had spread to nearly four times that number, covering 77,000 hectares.

About 5,000 people will have been dislocated by the fire as of Sunday.

“This (new) number is on top of the approximately 3,500 evacuees from the communities of Garden Hill First Nation, Wasagamack First Nation and St. Theresa Point First Nation who had been evacuated as of the end of Friday. Those evacuees are staying in two Red Cross shelters in Winnipeg, as well as in hotels across Winnipeg and Brandon,” Feely told media at a press conference at the Red Cross Winnipeg headquarters.

Another 835 people evacuated earlier from a separate fire in Poplar River on the northeast side of Lake Winnipeg were reported to be getting ready to return home, but as of Saturday, there had been no official confirmation their evacuation order had been lifted.

The Red Cross set up two shelters in the city this week, filling the RBC Convention Centre with nearly 1,000 people and setting up a secondary one at the WSF Soccer North centre on Leila Avenue with another 700.

“What we are finding, friends and family are taking in the evacuees, so the evacuation centres, people are registering there, but friends and family are taking some of the evacuees, which is freeing up space in the shelters,” Feely said.

“Once hotel rooms are freed up after this long weekend, we will be able to put more of the evacuees, especially those with health concerns or elders, into hotels, which are obviously more comfortable.”

Conditions in the shelters are what you would expect, he noted.

“We’re getting the usual complaints: the food is too bland, too spicy, the beds are too hard, too soft. I’m not trying to downplay those concerns, they’re very important, and whatever the concerns are, we try to ensure those concerns are met, but with just over 1000 people in the shelters, it’s hard to meet everyone’s needs. They’re settling in now, visiting with each other. They’re more relaxed, but I’d say their stress level is still a little high, ” Feely said.

There are no plans to open up a third shelter. It’s unknown how long the evacuation could last.

“That’s all up to mother nature. More rain is needed, so we are planning for two weeks. That is up in the air right now, but we are planning for two weeks,” Feely said.

Meanwhile, multiple organizations are pitching in to collect donations: hundreds of the initial evacuees were rushed out of the fire zone so fast they didn’t have time to bring extra clothes or even basic toiletries.

“We anticipate people will be able to bring out their medication and be a little more prepared. The first evacuation, especially from Wasagamack, boats transporting 2,000 people over to St. Theresa Point, it was hurried, and leadership did a fantastic job. This group is expected to be more prepared,” Feely said.

The Island Lake Tribal Council, the Me-Dian Credit Union, the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata and the Manitoba Islamic Association are all reported to be helping to collect donations and raise cash. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers is reported to be donating proceeds from the Labour Day classic 50/50 raffle to the Red Cross, which is co-ordinating evacuation efforts.

For updates, contact each organization through its website. There is also a Facebook site dedicated to the effort, called Helping Manitoba Forest Fire Evacuees in Winnipeg and Brandon. It can be found at www.facebook.com/groups/135594573724844.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca