More wildfire evacuees arrive in Brandon

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This article was published 03/08/2024 (609 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The number of wildfire evacuees being lodged in Brandon has more than doubled from earlier this week.

Brandon Police Service told the Sun on Friday that they had received an email from the Red Cross the previous evening saying that 225 people from Manto Sipi Cree Nation and St. Theresa Point First Nation are being lodged at six hotels in Brandon, with the Victoria Inn set up as a reception centre.

Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Jason Small said in an email that around 160 people from the two First Nations have been officially registered as evacuees in Brandon.

“There is often a lag between when people arrive and when they get officially registered, so that may explain the discrepancy in numbers,” Small said.

When the Sun spoke with Small earlier this week, just 46 evacuees from Manto Sipi had been registered in Brandon, though more planes were expected to arrive.

Manto Sipi is roughly as far north as Flin Flon but is located on the north shore of Gods Lake in eastern Manitoba. St. Theresa Point is to the southwest of Manto Sipi, on the western shore of Island Lake.

A fire bulletin issued by the provincial government on Friday afternoon said some residents of those First Nations as well as God’s Lake, Wasagamack and Red Sucker Lake First Nations have been evacuated due to smoke from a fire roughly 22 kilometres south of Gods Lake Narrows.

This fire is estimated to be 29,741 hectares in size — the largest currently active in Manitoba.

“(Manitoba Wildfire Service) continues to focus on protecting Manitoba Hydro infrastructure and the Bell communication tower which services the Island Lake area,” the bulletin said. “Value protection has been set up on values at risk within the vicinity of this fire.”

There are two major fires near Marcel Colomb First Nation — one 3,020 hectares in size east of the community and the other 1,851 hectares to the northeast.

A fire 60 km northeast of Thompson has grown to 10,794 hectares. Around 23 km east of Pukatawagen, there is a 4,155-hectare fire.

There are currently 70 active wildfires in Manitoba.

“Lightning- and human-caused fires continue to persist with no significant precipitation in the short-term forecast,” the bulletin said.

On top of the 22 Ontario personnel already in Manitoba to assist with the fires, a further 21 will be arriving this weekend.

Two water bombers from Quebec and a Bird Dog aircraft from New Brunswick are also in Manitoba to assist.

In communities receiving smoke from the wildfires, the province recommends that area residents protect themselves by limiting outdoor activity, staying inside with windows and doors closed, setting air conditioning units to recirculate rather than draw in outside air and drinking plenty of water.

Information on active wildfires can be found online at gov.mb.ca/wildfire/index.html.

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