A fire in the Island Lake area of northeastern Manitoba forced evacuations of three remote First Nations beginning Aug. 29, a task made more difficult by the size of the airstrip and one of the communities being across a lake.
The fire grew to about 23,000* hectares on Tuesday as a result of strong north winds, high temperatures and low humidity levels and efforts to contain the blaze using water bombers based in Thompson, The Pas and Gimli saw only limited success because of dense smoke, said Sustainable Development Minister Rochelle Squires in a conference call Aug. 30.
“Our government is doing everything we can to fight the fires and to assist these evacuees,” said Squires.
About 3,700 people are being evacuated to Winnipeg and Brandon, including all 2,000 or so residents of Wasagamack First Nation, where some homes are within a kilometre or less of the flames, as well as those from St. Theresa Point First Nation and Garden Hill First Nation who are susceptible to breathing difficulties resulting from the smoky conditions.
Sustainable Development’s fire program manager Gary Friesen said two crews totalling 21 firefighters were fighting the fire Aug. 30, with another five crews who had been deployed at a fire north of Snow Lake and personnel from the Office of the Fire Commissioner en route. In addition to attempting to contain the fire, the firefighters were installing sprinkler systems to protect homes in Wasagamack First Nation.
The Canadian Red Cross is co-ordinating the evacuations as part of an agreement it has with the federal government. Members of the affected communities organized boat transportation to transport residents from Wasagamack across the lake to St. Theresa Point, where there is an airstrip. Evacuees were told to bring medicine, a few days’ worth of clothes and any mobility aids to ensure as many people as possible can get on the small planes that can land in St. Theresa Point. Shawn Feely, Canadian Red Cross vice-president for Manitoba and Nunavut, said that an average of 45 people can depart on each plane and that there was a constant stream of flights Aug. 30.
“There’s a lot of people to pick up,” he said. “There’s not a lot of room.”
Evacuees will be taken to Brandon until there are no more available hotel rooms and then they will start being transported to Winnipeg.
Friesen said winds were a little lighter Aug. 30 than the previous day and that temperatures were supposed to be cooler than they had been for a few days.
“So that’s helping us out,” he said.
Friesen also said that rain was forecast for much of the eastern part of Manitoba on Sept. 1.
“If that occurs that’ll be really good,” Friesen said.
Other fires near communities in the province include a 4,600-hectarte fire about 3.5 kilometres from Poplar River that required evacuation of residents and a 2,000-hectare fire about six kilometres from Fox Lake First Nation.
After a slow start, wildfire activity has picked up steadily since the end of July, Friesen said.
“It’s really above normal now,” he said, and there have already been 497 fires, more than the usual number for a year, with plenty of hot, dry weather still ahead. “We still have a lot of wildfire season left.”
* An Aug. 30 provincial government press release identifed the fire near Wasagamack as covering 77,000 hectares. An update Aug. 31 clarified that it was 23,000 hectares with a perimeter of 77,000 metres.
