‘It looked like a nuke’: Leaf Rapids resident recounts wildfire evacuation
Posted June 27, 2023 2:21 pm.
Last Updated June 27, 2023 7:39 pm.
A wildfire burning out of control in northern Manitoba was so calamitous it looked a nuclear weapon, according to a resident who was forced to evacuate his community.
Residents of Leaf Rapids, Man., were given little warning to pack up and leave the small community of around 350 people situated 980 kilometres north of Winnipeg
“It was so close you could just see the rumble of the smoke and they were turning into cloud-type forms. It was crazy,” said John Bushby.
The wildfire is one of five out-of-control blazes currently burning in northern Manitoba.
“The clouds started getting closer and thicker,” said Bushby. “It looked like a nuke, or something came off. It kept on growing and growing and you could see the clouds raising to the sky.”
Bushby, who has lived in Leaf Rapids for the last 15 years, says he’s never seen a wildfire of this magnitude before.
“It’s really freaky,” he said. “You just see all those clouds popping up with new burns and black smoke. I have never seen anything like this before.”
Map showing dimensions of wildfire burning near Leaf Rapids as of June 27, 2023. (Courtesy: Government of Manitoba)
State of local emergency
On Monday evening, Bushby and his family were forced to evacuate their home. They are now staying in Thompson, Man., more than 200 kilometres southeast of Leaf Rapids.
“The cops showed up and they knocked on the door and they said, ‘alright you have an hour to pack up. Do you have a vehicle?’ which I did,” recounted Bushby. “He’s like, ‘you have an hour to pack up, take what you need, and you have to go.’
“Luckily we were already packed, because a few days ago, a lot of ashes were falling down in town.”
The Manitoba government says the fire is approximately 10,500 hectares and still around eight kilometres away from Leaf Rapids.
Coun. Donald McCallum from Marcel Colomb Cree Nation, about 70 kilometres north of Leaf Rapids, says there is another fire burning 30 kilometres north of his community. He says they aren’t in evacuation mode yet but are on standby.
“It just depends on where the wind is blowing from and so if there is an emergency measure that needs to be taken, we will work on it as fast as we can, but I think we are prepared for that,” he said.
Poor air quality
McCallum says with fires both to the north and south of Leaf Rapids, air quality is a concern.
“If you can have nice clean air like you are having today, that is a really good sign, that’s a really good thing,” he said. “As far as I know, there are no fires down this way, but we particularly get them up in the north.”
There have been 143 wildfires in Manitoba this year, totalling 43,645 total hectares of land burned – 50 per cent of that land has burned in northern Manitoba.
READ: Poor air quality in Winnipeg due to wildfire smoke
Neil Johnston, the president of the Manitoba Lung Association, says exposure to wildfire smoke has a cumulative impact.
“Even if it seems relatively light, if we get some of the warnings, if it is a little hazy, but that haze is caused by the pollutions and even minor levels can cause problems over time,” said Johnston. “So it’s something we need to really be paying attention to.”
