A series of severe wildfires in Manitoba are forcing both seasonal and permanent residents to abandon their properties.
As of May 15, eight provincial parks, three local authorities, three Northern Affairs communities, and 24 cottage subdivisions had issued mandatory evacuation orders. This included popular cottage areas such as Whiteshell Provincial Park, Nopiming Provincial Park, and Lac du Bonnet.
On May 13, a fast-moving and out-of-control wildfire in Lac du Bonnet killed two people, later identified as Sue and Richard Nowell. The fire trapped the couple in their family property off Wendigo Road. Their sons, Ryland and Emmett, also in the property at the time, managed to escape.
“Today, The RCMP announced the tragic loss of life of two or our residents in the fire. To the family, friends, and loved ones, know that our community is suffering with you during this difficult time. On behalf of our community, the Council of the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet offers its deepest condolences and prayers,” said Lac du Bonnet reeve Loren Schinkel, in a statement.
According to the province, the Lac du Bonnet wildfire is currently being held with evacuation orders lifted for some areas of the municipality. Meanwhile, the Nopiming wildfire is still classified as out of control.
The Ontario government is fighting a wildfire in Ingolf which has spilled across the Manitoba border into Whiteshell Provincial Park. The fire remains in the east part of the park along the Ontario border, but is classified as out of control. Despite this, Manitoba Parks has started a phased reopening of other sections of Whiteshell to permanent residents and cottagers.
The provincial government has made it clear that this reopening could be temporary. All residents being allowed back into their properties in areas that were evacuated must have a go kit and planned evacuation route prepared for a two-hour evacuation notice.
Why you need a grab-and-go kit this wildfire season
The province has been fighting wildfires since April 12. Above-average temperatures, low humidity, and high winds has made the fires difficult to extinguish.
“We’re not seeing a typical fire season anymore,” said Kristin Hayward, the assistant deputy dinister of Manitoba Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures, during a May 14 press conference. “Typically, we wouldn’t be seeing a lot of this level of activity happening until later on in the summer. We’d deal with a short grass fire season before things greened up and then have a little bit of a break before the forest fires started. But we are seeing that our seasons are starting a lot earlier. We’re out on the landscape fighting forest fires probably a month earlier than historically we used to be. Weather patterns are certainly a contributing factor there.”
As of May 19, the province has experienced 82 wildfires this year, 71 of which have been extinguished, and 78 of which were human caused.
Hayward said human cause could be intentional or unintentional, including incidents such as garbage flying from a burn barrel, an ATV causing a spark, or wind taking an ember from a bonfire in dry conditions.
The province has received some rain in the last couple days but not enough to put the fires out. “We would need a good soaking rain, a couple of inches, a couple of days of rain,” said Hayward.
So far, the fires have burned a total of 172,963 hectares. That’s nearly four times the size of Winnipeg. The province has used 21 helicopters and six waterbombers to fight the fires, with assistance from both Ontario and B.C.
“Manitoba is one of the most active jurisdictions right now in Canada, in terms of the complexity of the fires that we have,” said Hayward.
The provincial government has asked all evacuees to check in with their local authorities to confirm they’re safe. If an evacuee is having trouble connecting with their local authority, they can contact Manitoba 211.
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