Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation issues second evacuation order due to wildfire
Posted August 4, 2025 3:24 pm.
Last Updated August 5, 2025 9:09 am.
Members of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation are working their way to Winnipeg as a wildfire threatens the community’s only road out.
This is now the second evacuation order for NCN, located in Nelson House, Manitoba, about 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
Priority one individuals were evacuated Saturday, followed by a full community order on Sunday.
By Sunday, reports indicated that over 3,000 residents were still in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation.
The evacuation order asks residents not to panic and says there’s no immediate danger. The concern is more about a potential highway closure cutting the community off from the rest of the province.
Provincial Road 391 is the only route into the community, and a 46,000-hectare fire threatens that road. Bus routes out of the community were stopped between 10 a.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. on Sunday due to the wildfire.
The NCN chief and council are asking community members to register at the NCN multiplex before checking in at the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg.
The province has not posted a fire bulletin since Tuesday – but according to the NCN Facebook page, Sunday was a very active day for wildfires in the north with four new starts thought to be due to lightning that went through the area last week.
There are now over 150 active fires burning in the province.
