Northern Manitoba evacuees stream south to escape raging wildfires

By Ed White

As thousands of people fled from areas overwhelmed by wildfires in remote northern Manitoba on Friday, Winnipeg scrambled to find housing and care for the sudden wave of evacuees.

The outbreak of fires across much of western Canada's north is due to unusually hot and dry conditions and flames are consuming hundreds of thousands of hectares of tinder-dry forest and bushland.

"It's hard on everybody," said school maintenance technician Richard Korte, who had fled to Winnipeg from Flin Flon, a regional centre of 5,000 people on the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border, and wondered where his family would sleep that night.

The neighbouring western provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba have both declared states of emergency to deal with the spreading fires, which have so far largely hit remote and sparsely-populated areas.

Evacuee Chris Schultz was sitting in the cab of his pickup truck with his dog, Stella, and hoped to get a glimpse of friends and relatives arriving at a temporary emergency shelter inside a hockey arena in Winnipeg.

Inside the center, his friend Korte had been trying to arrange housing for his family, including his disabled son who needs special supports and cannot stay in an arena.

People from northern Indigenous communities are fleeing as fires approach and their few routes to the south are cut off. Some communities have airlifted their most vulnerable people out, but smoke has closed at least one airport.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said about 17,000 Manitobans are fleeing the fires as the weather remains hot and dry.

"We need to stay calm," said Kinew in a press conference on Friday afternoon. He praised the help coming from Quebec, other provinces and the U.S., which is sending 125 firefighting staff to Manitoba.

"We cannot thank other jurisdictions enough."

Flin Flon mayor George Fontaine said on Friday morning that a weather report indicated it was likely that winds would blow the raging fire into the town.

"It could be very catastrophic if that happens," Fontaine said on CBC News Network.

There are 23 active fires in Manitoba and 14 in Saskatchewan, according to provincial data. The oil-producing province of Alberta also has 51 active fires, and oil companies have been evacuating workers this week.

Last year, wildfires devastated Jasper, a tourist town in the Canadian Rockies.

In his truck, Schultz said he might break out crying. But he hoped dog Stella would put a smile on the face of some of his fellow evacuees.