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CTV News
2 days ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Manitoba government to provide update on wildfire situation
Tour of the wildfire conditions around Flin Flon by helicopter. Premier Wab Kinew takes a tour of the wildfires in northern Manitoba, making stops in Flin Flon and Thompson. Thursday, June 12, 2025. (MIKE DEAL/FREE PRESS) The Manitoba government will provide an update Thursday afternoon about the wildfire situation in the province. Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor, Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and Manitoba Wildfire Service and Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, will give the update at the Manitoba legislature. On Wednesday, the province reduced travel and fire restrictions to Level 2, which allows people to have campfires between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. The latest update issued Wednesday said there are 21 active wildfires. There have been 124 total in 2025. CTV News will live stream the update. This is a developing story. More details to come.
CBC
12-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Manitoba to give update on wildfire situation as out-of-control blazes continue to burn
The Manitoba government will update the public on the province's current wildfire situation on Thursday, as out-of-control blazes continue to burn and thousands of evacuated residents wait to return home. Those slated to speak at Thursday's news conference are Natural Resources Minister Ian Bushie, Transportation Minister Lisa Naylor, Kristin Hayward with the Conservation Officer Service and Manitoba Wildfire Service, and Christine Stevens with Manitoba's emergency management organization, a provincial media advisory says. While some communities are looking at plans for when they can start bringing evacuees back home, fires continue to burn out of control across the province. As of the province's latest fire situation report on Tuesday, 25 active wildfires were burning in Manitoba, including 10 classified as out of control, but no new fires were reported in the 24 hours prior to the issuing of the report. The largest fire in the province is located near Flin Flon, about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, and is roughly 308,000 hectares in size. Of the 116 wildfires in Manitoba this year, 103 were caused by people, eight were sparked by natural causes and five are under investigation, the fire situation report says. Environment Canada.
Winnipeg Free Press
11-06-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cranberry Portage residents to return home Saturday; Ontario out of room for Manitoba fire evacuees
A northern community evacuated due to wildfire has been deemed safe for residents to return this weekend, while Ontario has stopped accepting evacuees from Manitoba after welcoming thousands to Niagara Falls. Residents of Cranberry Portage, about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, were told late Wednesday afternoon they can begin returning at 8 a.m. Saturday — two weeks after a mandatory evacuation order was issued — based on guidance from an incident command centre. 'They're certainly saying to us, at this time, that (Cranberry Portage evacuees) are safe to return home,' said Lori Forbes, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey's emergency co-ordinator. 'I know people are going to be very excited to go home.' She said 323 evacuees registered with her, but the total number will be higher because she doesn't have access to electronic registrations. About 438 people registered when Cranberry Portage was evacuated due to wildfire in May 2024. The Manitoba Wildfire Service said a blaze that began south of the community on May 27 was still out of control and about 4,920 hectares in size. The fire was caused by human activity. Forbes said recent rain and higher humidity levels helped crews. 'They've been able to do a little more ground work to get (fire) lines in place and stop the movement of fires,' she said. Some other evacuated communities have started preparing re-entry plans for evacuees, who are scattered across Manitoba and some locations out of province. Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Doreen Spence said 60 more evacuees from her community were scheduled to fly from Thompson to Hamilton Monday night, but an Indigenous Service Canada official told her a few hours before take-off that the flight was cancelled. 'They said (Ontario) is at capacity right now. They wouldn't be accepting anymore Manitobans,' Spence said about the arrangement between governments. An Ontario government spokesperson, speaking on background, said the intake of Manitoba evacuees was paused while Sandy Lake First Nation, in northwestern Ontario, was rapidly evacuated due to a fire that doubled in size within hours over the weekend. About 2,300 Manitobans are staying in Niagara Falls. The spokesperson said Ontario will continue to work closely with Manitoba and the federal government to provide available supports. With official evacuation flights to Ontario halted, some Tataskweyak residents who did not have their own accommodation in Thompson were taken by bus from that city to a shelter in Sagkeeng First Nation and hotels in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Last week, the Manitoba government confirmed the decision to send some evacuees out of province was made jointly with the federal government. The province said last week that 1,500 hotel rooms were secured in Niagara Falls, with about 800 occupied. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems.'–Brenda Frogg Spence said close to 700 Tataskweyak residents were taken to Ontario after the community began an evacuation May 29 due to an out-of-control fire nearby. About 70 to 80 essential workers, including Spence, remain in Tataskweyak, which has a population of about 2,600 and is approximately 770 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Threatened by a separate fire, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) also learned this week Ontario is no longer accepting Manitoba evacuees, said Coun. Brenda Frogg, who helped co-ordinate flights. It was her understanding that Ontario was overcapacity. About 300 Pimicikamak residents have been taken to Niagara Falls since the northern community issued a mandatory evacuation order May 28, she said. Lori Osborne, one of Pimicikamak's estimated 7,500 evacuees, stayed in Niagara Falls with her boyfriend and four children until they had to return to Winnipeg Tuesday due to a family emergency in Manitoba. 'I felt like I was not even an evacuee,' she said of the experience, which included sightseeing of the falls and visits to tourist attractions. Some evacuees from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan) and Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon) were also moved to Niagara Falls. The Canadian Red Cross had registered more than 20,500 evacuees provincewide as of Monday. The agency said more than 1,600 hotel rooms in Winnipeg were secured. Spence said some Tataskweyak evacuees in Winnipeg had to move to different hotels because of limited room availability at some locations. Spence and Frogg said it is not yet known when evacuees from Pimicikamak or Tataskweyak will be allowed home. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems,' Frogg, a nurse, said by phone from Pimicikamak, where she was providing nursing cover for essential workers who remain in the community. Pimicikamak and Flin Flon are among evacuated communities that have started discussing or developing phased re-entry plans. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant.'–Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence Evacuees were told it will likely be some time before it is safe to return to areas where fires still pose a danger, and essential and safety services are not yet restored. Spence said fire-damaged Manitoba Hydro infrastructure near Tataskweyak has to be repaired. The Manitoba government reported 25 active wildfires on Wednesday. Nine were out of control, including a blaze that stretched from Bird River to Bissett, in eastern Manitoba. The fire, which started May 12 and is known as EA061, covered about 218,700 hectares, including parts of Nopiming Provincial Park. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence said all efforts have been taken to protect the evacuated community, which is home to about 110 people. She said Bissett residents are grateful to those who've contributed to the effort, including staff from multiple provincial departments, the local fire department and Beausejour Brokenhead Fire Department. U.S. firefighters were deployed to the Bissett area this week. Residents have provided accommodations and meals for essential workers, and helped to ensure a water plan remains operational. 'Our hopes are that these continued efforts from wildfire services will contain this fire and allow us to go home,' Nicholson-Spence wrote in an email. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant and ready to meet this threat as safely as we are able to do so.' Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
10-06-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘It's a slower day': Flin Flon mayor
Favourable weather conditions and suppression efforts are helping firefighters make some progress or hold the line against some large, out-of-control fires in Manitoba. The largest blaze — about 307,781 hectares, or roughly seven times the size of Winnipeg, is burning close to several communities or areas in Manitoba, including Flin Flon and Sherridon, and across the border in Saskatchewan. 'It's a slower day,' Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said. 'It's not one of those big windy days, so it's giving people a chance to reorganize.' Officially known as fire WE017, the blaze was previously estimated to be about 140 kilometres long and five kilometres wide. Some fires in northern and eastern Manitoba have been burning for more than three weeks. The Manitoba Wildfire Service reported 25 active blazes Tuesday afternoon, down from 29 Monday. A provincewide state of emergency is in place until at least June 26. About 21,000 evacuees have registered with the Canadian Red Cross, making it one of the largest evacuations in Manitoba history. Parts of Whiteshell Provincial Park are scheduled to reopen to permanent residents, cottagers and commercial operators Wednesday. Fire EA063, situated along the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, remains out of control, but suppression efforts are holding the line, the province said. Crowduck Lake and Big Whiteshell lake will reopen at 8 a.m. Florence Lake, Nora Lake and Ophir Siding will reopen at 4 p.m. The areas have been closed since May 15. The province cautioned that anyone returning to the reopened areas should be prepared to leave again with little notice. The Mantario wilderness zone, including the Mantario Trail and Caddy Lake Tunnels, are still closed. Northeast Manitoba's fire danger was high to extreme, while low to moderate danger was reported throughout the rest of the province. A chance of rain in the North was good news, but it brought an increased risk of new fire starts due to lightning strikes. Manitoba's largest blaze, fire WE017, was burning north and west of Snow Lake, where a mandatory evacuation order went into effect Saturday. In a Facebook post, the town said Tuesday poor air quality, egress and medical resources factored into the decision to evacuate. The fire was about 30 kilometres from the town as of Tuesday morning, the post said. Crews have been clearing brush near assets including a hospital and wastewater treatment plant, and problem areas. Lori Forbes, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey's emergency co-ordinator, said higher humidity levels helped crews made good progress on a fire, known as WE023, north of Wanless. 'That doesn't mean these fires are changing. The ones that are keeping people out of their communities, they're still out of control,' she said. Fire WE023, measuring about 4,920 hectares, forced the evacuation of Cranberry Portage. Manitoba's firefighting effort was again bolstered by reinforcements from south of the border. Weekday Mornings A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day. About 107 personnel, primarily wildland firefighters, were scheduled to arrive from the U.S. Tuesday to bring the total to about 282, said Tina Boehle, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. Reinforcements were arriving from Colorado, Oregon, South Dakota and Utah. Five elite U.S. Hotshot crews were fighting various fires in Manitoba Tuesday. Hotshot crews are typically assigned to the most challenging terrain or priority wildfires in the U.S. 'They can be self-sufficient for multiple days on the ground,' Boehle said. 'Usually, they deal with some pretty tough situations down here.' Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
National Observer
09-06-2025
- National Observer
Manitoba asks tourists to stay away as 21,000 people flee wildfires
Manitoba urged tourists Monday to hit pause on visiting the province for now as it fights to find shelter for a growing legion of wildfire evacuees that has now reached 21,000. It was one of multiple provinces battling marauding forest fires that have spawned sweeping, soaring tendrils of gauzy wood smoke across the country and beyond. 'This is one of the largest evacuations in our province's history,' said Lisa Naylor, the Manitoba minister in charge of emergency management. 'The government anticipates there may be a need for more hotel rooms as the wildfire season continues. For that reason, we are urging Manitobans and Canadians to reconsider non-essential travel and event plans within Manitoba." Naylor acknowledged it's a difficult situation. 'We absolutely know how important tourism is to Manitoba and we are very mindful of the many workers whose livelihoods depend on a strong tourism sector.' The Manitoba Hotel Association estimates there are 15,000 hotel rooms in the province. The province has set up four congregate shelters for wildfire evacuees, with reception centres in Winnipeg, Brandon and Thompson. Manitoba has more than 300 firefighters battling blazes from the remote northwest down through the southeast. Crews have come from other provinces and the United States, and more U.S. crews were expected Monday. There were 28 active wildfires as of Monday, 10 of which are out of control. Continued firefighting, along with a bit of weekend rain, has kept the fires from overwhelming evacuated communities. The largest fire, menacing the city of Flin Flon and its surrounding communities, spans more than 3,000 square kilometres. All 5,000 residents of Flin Flon and thousands more in the surrounding area remain out. In north-central Manitoba, fires have forced 6,700 out of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation. In total, there are 27 communities under evacuation orders. Kristin Hayward, with the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said 74 charges and 28 warnings have been issued for those breaking the fire rules. She referred to two arson charges laid by RCMP last month, but said arson is not a widespread problem. 'The majority of what we see are fires that start because of carelessness,' Hayward said. Thousands also remained out of their homes in Saskatchewan and Alberta, including between 10,000 and 15,000 in Saskatchewan alone. Saskatchewan officials, in a Monday update, said rain has helped crews contain the fires while allowing residents, including those in the hamlet of Weyakwin and some from Pelican Narrows, to return. 'We're now turning a corner,' said Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod. Crews are battling 25 wildfires, and 33 communities are under full or limited evacuation orders. McLeod said they have asked the federal government to provide two base camps to support crews and tents for sheltering up to 200 people as the work begins to clean up and rebuild damaged communities. About 7,000 in and around La Ronge remain out of their homes. In northern Ontario, officials said Canada's military has evacuated more than 700 people out of harm's way as a major wildfire threatens the Sandy Lake First Nation near the Manitoba boundary. It's unclear how many residents are still waiting to be evacuated from the community of more than 2,000. In British Columbia, the provincial wildfire service said crews were preparing for "extreme fire behaviour" in the province's northeast as a second dry cold front was forecast to move through. The service said strong wind gusts are expected in some areas, which could fan the flames. The warning comes after the Pocket Knife Creek wildfire formed over the weekend, quickly growing into a wildfire of note — one of three in B.C.'s northeast that have prompted a series of evacuation orders. There are currently more than 80 fires burning, with more than half listed as out of control. Meanwhile, smoke from the fires was moving from a transnational problem to a transglobal one. Environment Canada meteorologist Steven Flisfeder said that from B.C. to Quebec, Canadians could likely see and smell the sooty wildfire smoke staining the country's skies orange and red. "We're seeing smoke present almost everywhere," Flisfeder said. "When we look at satellite imagery, we can see the presence of smoke stemming from these wildfires making their way across the Atlantic towards the U.K. and parts of Europe." He said the haze in the Earth's upper atmosphere isn't dangerous, but that there is always the chance it descends and becomes a health risk. Flisfeder added winds are expected to shift in the coming days.
