Ontario fire evacuees stay briefly in Brandon

Brandon briefly hosted evacuees from wildfires in northwestern Ontario after two fires forced people to leave their homes.

The evacuees came from Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, which include the communities of White Dog, One Man Lake and Swan Lake. They have since been moved to Winnipeg, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett told the Sun.

Fawcett confirmed people stayed in Brandon for “a day or two,” but went to Winnipeg as it’s closer to their homes.

He said he knew of about 60 rooms made available by hotels in the city.

Fawcett said the Red Cross and the provincial government co-ordinate evacuees.

Jason Small with the Canadian Red Cross said the evacuees from Wabaseemoong went to Brandon and Winnipeg, although he didn’t say how many people from the three communities left their homes. Wabaseemoong has a population of about 1,280 people across the three communities, according to its website.

Small said he didn’t want to share numbers on how many people were evacuated, for privacy reasons.

He said the evacuees will eventually go to southern Ontario, until they can return to their homes.

The community of White Dog was only 2.5 kilometres from one of the blazes as of Thursday, according to Ontario Forest Fires. White Dog is about 50 kilometres northwest of Kenora, and about 15 kilometres east of the Manitoba border.

Manitoba’s Whiteshell Provincial Park, which borders Ontario, is under a state of emergency.

The closest fire to White Dog, called Kenora 20, and known in Manitoba as East 63, started near Ingolf, Ont., before moving north toward both Wabaseemoong and crossing the provincial border into Manitoba. It was about 230 square kilometres in size as of Thursday, and as of 7 p.m., the fire was not under control.

The other fire, Kenora 14, is about 10 kilometres northwest of White Dog, and is about 15.3 square kilometres in size. That fire is also not under control.

Thirteen helicopters are assigned to the two fires.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew urged people to be careful and not start fires or fireworks this long weekend.

“This is a serious situation,” said Kinew at a press conference in Winnipeg Thursday about the wildfires and evacuations in Manitoba. “We lost lives in Manitoba yesterday.”

Two people near Lac du Bonnet died because of a wildfire earlier this week, and thousands of people have been evacuated in Manitoba and Ontario.

“No fires, please,” Kinew urged, about celebrating the long weekend without fires.

There were 21 active fires in Manitoba as of Thursday. Kinew said more than 1,000 Manitobans had registered as evacuees in eastern, northern and southeastern Manitoba.

“That is probably a low number, because not everyone has registered with your local reception centres,” said Kinew.

He said more than 1,200 people are registered as evacuees from Ontario, although it isn’t clear if they are all from the same area.

Kinew told reporters at an unrelated press conference in Brandon Thursday afternoon that the province would have more details about the evacuees, but a spokesperson for the Manitoba government said Friday that local municipalities and the Canadian Red Cross are the ones who organize the evacuation.

Kinew said 40 firefighters from British Columbia were helping combat fires near The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba. He said he had also talked to Ontario Premier Doug Ford about bringing additional firefighters, and he said Ford was “certainly willing to help,” while keeping in mind that other provinces are dealing with their own emergencies. Ontario has had 74 fires so far this year.

Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister responsible for the wildfire service, said there have been 80 fires so far this year in Manitoba.

The average for this time of year is 48.

» alambert@brandonsun.com