Evacuated residents return to God’s Lake First Nation, but wildfire that forced them out still out of control

Vulnerable residents who were evacuated from a First Nation community in northeastern Manitoba have returned home, but the wildfire that forced them out is still raging out of control while the province is choosing to fight only a part of it.

The smoke from the fire led to the partial evacuation of God’s Lake First Nation in late July. Hundreds with respiratory issues, underlying health conditions and elders stayed at Winnipeg hotels for less than two weeks as air quality in the community continued to worsen.

The Canadian Red Cross said some members of the First Nation started heading home on Saturday. By the end of the long weekend, all those forced out of the community had returned. 

God’s Lake First Nation is the first such community in the province to see evacuated residents return home. But at least two other Manitoba First Nations hope to follow suit and start returning their members in coming days. 

“We don’t have so much of a concern at the moment, I think it’s safe to bring people back now,” St. Theresa Point First Nation Chief Raymond Flett said.

Residents with respiratory issues left the community on Thursday and Friday. Flett says the partial evacuation was a “precautionary measure” to prevent them from getting sick due to the worsening air quality.

But precipitation on the long weekend and a shift in winds have since helped the wildfire smoke to recede. 

Evacuations were halted, and with more rain in the short-term forecast, Flett is proposing the band council start coordinating with the Red Cross and bring the 220 evacuees currently staying at Brandon hotels back. 

Earl Simmons, director of the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said Manto Sipi Cree Nation is also considering returning evacuees. Vulnerable residents were evacuated from the First Nation in northeastern Manitoba last week after a cloud of heavy wildfire smoke blanketed the community. 

The Red Cross said 365 people from Manto Sipi Cree Nation are registered and staying at hotels in Brandon, nearly 700 kilometres southwest of the community.

Wildfire burning out of control 

The wildfire that forced hundreds to evacuate from five communities in northeastern Manitoba is still burning out of control, stretching around 30,000 hectares in size. 

“The fire is growing a little bit because we’re only doing a limited action on that fire, we’re only fighting one side of that fire,” Simmons said. 

The wildfire is still 25 to 30 kilometres away from the closest community, and in areas where its path does not threaten infrastructure or residents. Simmons said the province is letting the fire run its own course.

“Quite simply once they get that big, we don’t have the resources to fight fires that size and there would be no economic reason to put out the fire,” he said. “There’s no forestry values or infrastructure values.” 

But the fire did reach a key piece of infrastructure over the weekend, a wooden pole line supplying electricity to the Red Sucker Lake Anisininew Nation.

The structure was charred and burnt on the outside, and while it didn’t collapse, residents from the community were left without power for more than a full day, forcing the community to declare a state of emergency over the weekend.

A spokesperson for Manitoba Hydro said roughly 300 customers were without power due to the smoke on Saturday. Dense particulates from the wildfire led to insulating equipment to conduct electricity and create the service outage, the spokesperson said. Power was restored on Sunday evening. 

Smoke billowing from the wildfire has also prevented firefighting crews, especially water bombers, from accessing the forest and helping those on the ground put out the blaze. For firefighters, Simmons said, the work has also been challenging, with the blaze exceeding “extreme fire behaviour” in some areas.

“It [the wildfire] has gotten into some good fuel,” Simmons said. “Nature is doing what nature does, it is burning older forests, more subject to being burned and we are not fighting that.” 

The province was battling 75 wildfires by Tuesday, up from 66 on Monday.

“We’ve been fairly busy. We’re picking up anywhere between six and ten new fires every day,” Simmons said. 

Most of the fires have been triggered by lightning storms in northern Manitoba. But as weather conditions in the province’s south dry up, wildfires have begun igniting where they hadn’t until this summer. 

Simmons said two wildfires were detected in Whiteshell Provincial Park over the weekend. Provincial data shows both blazes are currently under control and have burned less than one hectare each. 

Rain is forecasted for southern Manitoba for the next few days, Simmons said favourable wildfire conditions will remain north of the province, where more dry lightning storms are expected.

‘Volatile situation’ near Marcel Colomb First Nation

Firefighters continue to battle a blaze east of Lynn Lake that forced the full evacuation of Marcel Colomb First Nation almost two weeks ago. After tripling in size last week, the wildfire continues to burn out of control four kilometres from the Manitoba First Nation. 

“We had some challenging days with fire behaviour, but the crews are working hard,” he said. 

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Firefighters with heavy equipment on the ground continue pumping water to contain the fire line, while crews from Minnesota and Wisconsin arrived in the province on Tuesday to help. 

“The fire is probably over half-contained at this time, but we still have to get the other 50 per cent before you feel comfortable letting anybody back into the community,” Simmons said. 

“We’re not in a position. It’s still a volatile situation,” he said.

The Canadian Red Cross said 259 people from Marcel Colomb First Nation are registered at Winnipeg hotels. More than 1,000 people from Wasagamack First Nation and Red Sucker Lake Anisininew Nation have also been evacuated.