Manitoba looks to move Thompson evacuees elsewhere amid struggle for hotel space, minister says
Manitoba is looking at moving more than 100 wildfire evacuees from the northern city of Thompson to another part of the province, as it struggles to find enough hotel space for everyone forced out of their homes this spring.
As of Thursday, about 114 people were still living in the evacuation centre in that city, including some who had been there for close to three weeks, Lisa Naylor, the minister responsible for Manitoba's Emergency Management Organization, said at a news conference.
"It is provincial policy for people not to stay in congregate shelters. And we have worked really hard, but because we can't find rooms in the area we are looking at moving people to a different location in Manitoba," Naylor said.
"That's going to be sorted out over the next probably 24 to 48 hours. Folks have been there a really long time, and that was never the intention."
Those evacuees are among more than 22,000 people forced out of their homes this spring by wildfires, in what Naylor described as one of the largest evacuations in the province's history.
People from 14 Manitoba communities are still evacuated from their homes as wildfires continue to burn across the province, said Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.
While evacuees from some areas have started to go home, Stevens said there are a number of elements local officials have to make sure are in place before that happens everywhere, including the return of medical staff and law enforcement, and the reopening of schools, grocery stores and gas stations.
As of Thursday, there are 21 wildfires burning across Manitoba, including seven deemed out of control, said Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and the Manitoba Wildfire Service.
The province overall is at a moderate to high fire danger — and while there are pockets where rain has helped, officials are also anticipating more possible fire starts caused by recent and forecast thunderstorms, Hayward said.
Updates on out-of-control fires
Hayward also gave updates on a number of out-of-control fires burning near communities across Manitoba, including two in northwestern Manitoba near the city of Flin Flon.
One of those fires is now about 7,200 hectares on the Manitoba side of the border, while the other is over 370,000 hectares and still very active after recent rain dried up — though Hayward said crews are still making steady progress in the area immediately around Flin Flon.
Another out-of-control fire in eastern Manitoba, in the area of Nopiming Provincial Park, is over 218,000 hectares.
Hayward said while that blaze continues to burn actively on its north and west sides, residents in some other areas nearby were able to return home recently, as crews have gotten good control on those sections of the fire.
Good progress is being made on an out-of-control fire that's now over 21,500 hectares in the Split Lake area, northeast of Thompson, while another in the Lynn lake region is over 71,000 hectares, with the north half actively burning but the south part, closer to the community, looking better, she said.
Another blaze in the Cross Lake area that's about 64,000 hectares has been stable, meaning it's not growing significantly over time, Hayward said.
Meanwhile, two other fires in western Manitoba have had their status change, with one near Wanless deemed under control and another close to Grand Rapids being held, she said.
'Could get worse from here, I won't sugarcoat it'
As for what the rest of the summer may hold for wildfires in Manitoba, that's more difficult to predict, Hayward said.
"I wish I had a crystal ball, as I usually say," she said, adding what's clear is the long-term forecast shows prolonged periods of warmer than average temperatures and a possibility of lower than normal precipitation.
"We're coming into a season where we see a lot of thunderstorms and a lot of lighting passing through. So, you know, things could get worse from here, I won't sugarcoat it — but hopefully they don't."
WATCH | Thursday's Manitoba wildfire update:
Manitoba wildfire update
43 minutes ago
Duration 22:47
Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor gives an update on the wildfires burning across Manitoba, alongside Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and the Manitoba Wildfire Service, and Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.
To date, the province has recorded 124 fires this spring — above the 20-year average of 118 for this time of year, she said. The total area burned in Manitoba this year is now over 902,000 hectares.
The province now has 297 people from outside Manitoba helping with the wildfire effort, including some from Newfoundland and Labrador and from Parks Canada. Most are from U.S. federal and state agencies, including firefighters from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, Hayward said.
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