Fire evacuees begin returning home to Manitoba First Nation after cool, wet weather

Cool, wet weather has allowed fire crews to get an upper hand in parts of northern Manitoba to clear the way for some of the 21,000 or more evacuees to start returning home.

David Monias, chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, reposted video of heavy rainfall on Facebook Monday, along with video of small planes leaving Winnipeg with evacuees who were forced out almost three weeks earlier.

“Our people are coming home,” Monias wrote, adding the community’s infrastructure is intact and water systems have been tested by health officials.

“Pimicikamak Cree Nation has begun the safe and gradual repatriation of our evacuees back to the community.”

The community and surrounding area, comprising of some 7,000 people, was among the largest evacuated during an especially dry, hot spring this year.

Elsewhere in northern Manitoba, people in Snow Lake, Sherridon and Herb Lake Landing were allowed to return on the weekend. Hudbay Minerals also restarted its Snow Lake mining operations.

Other residents, however, were asked to be patient.

The roughly 5,000 residents of Flin Flon were told a nearby fire might ramp up again after the area received only a small amount of rain. The 3,700 square-kilometre fire, north and east of the city, remained out of control.

“We’re working (on) doing some scans with the drones and aircraft to understand where some of the hottest areas are so that we can prioritize where we’re going to focus our efforts,” said Kristin Hayward from the provincial wildfire service.

People running critical businesses have begun to re-enter Flin Flon, but the general community will have to wait, partly because there are no health services and limited fire protection is available, municipal officials said.

“I don’t know if folks realize… when people are returning to a community that’s been empty, we need to make sure that the emergency room can open we need to make sure that ems services are there, that gas stations and grocery stores are stocked. That a community is ready for people to return home,” said Lisa Naylor, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.

There were 18 fires still burning across Manitoba, with seven of them listed as out of control.

“I think we’re all mindful of the dynamic nature of this peril. Of the wildfire itself and then those situations, whether it’s smoke impacts on a community or fire behaviour due to worsening conditions, people do need to remain vigilant and stay aware of the risk around them, unfortunately,” said Christine Stevens, the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.

The province is still trying to free up hotel space for those who’ve now gone weeks in congregate shelters.

“It’s not ideal. Families need some privacy and the opportunity to be able to be in a little calmer environment, so we’re still actively working to get families into hotels up there,” said Naylor.

As of right now, the province has no updates on the investigations into what started these fires.

-With files from the Canadian Press