Lac du Bonnet wildfire evacuees return but for many, 'their world has changed'
Homes vaporized by fire's intensity, says reeve, melted boats reported in Nopiming
Evacuated areas of Lac du Bonnet are slowly repopulating in the wake of an out-of-control wildfire that's now contained after leaving a path of destruction that includes two lives lost.
"Yesterday afternoon we managed to get people back into the largest area there, some 650 residents," said Loren Schinkel, reeve for the rural municipality, northeast of Winnipeg, where 850 to 1,000 people were forced to leave shortly after the fire began May 13.
Emergency officials have been allowing select areas of the community's evacuation zone to return since last week, some on Wednesday night, some Thursday, a few more Sunday and again more on Monday.
It's been a graduated process as the fire's been attacked and contained, Schinkel said on Tuesday.
Officials also met Monday with residents in the east Wendigo Road area where the fire began and 28 cottages and homes were lost.
Sue and Richard Nowell died there after being trapped by the fire on May 13. Lac du Bonnet MLA Wayne Ewasko said at the legislature Tuesday the couple had come back to their home attempting to rescue their pet, but were "overtaken by the fast-moving flames." Ewasko said their final moments were "filled with love and selflessness."
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"Their world has changed up there," Schinkel said, offering condolences on behalf of council and RM residents to those who've lost life and property.
"People that were allowed back in yesterday, certainly they're they're glad to go home, but others can't, unfortunately. Some people have lost everything."
Schinkel said he's never seen such complete destruction. If a fire burns a house, there is an expectation of a pile of rubble, of collapsed walls and roofs, he said.
"There's nothing in this area that's like that. It was burning at 1,600 C. It was travelling at five kilometres an hour at its peak," he said. "Everything's disintegrated. It's vaporized because of the intensity of the heat. It's apocalyptic, really.
"I describe it as a demon, a creature that just, you know, chose its path and did its damage."
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Monday's reopening allowed evacuees to return to the Cape Coppermine and Granite Hills areas as well as the west side of the Lee River.
"Basically everybody in that area on the east side of Pinawa Bay, Pinawa Channel, is back into their residences," Schinkel said.
'Mother Nature is not happy with us'
The Grausdin Point and north Wendigo area are still under an evacuation order, but the hope is to reopen that soon, says a post on the Lac du Bonnet Emergency Management Facebook page.
Despite the return to many areas, the danger hasn't completely subsided. There have been flare-ups and people are being urged to keep an eye out for flames.
A photo taken by Marilyn Hoskins before she evacuated her home in the eastern side of the RM of Lac du Bonnet. The area is still under an evacuation order. (Submitted by Marilyn Hoskins)
"Hot spots can linger and blow out as the wind temperature and humidity change," the Facebook post says.
Flames can smoulder underground in peatlands, unseen until they erupt again. In one such area, crews have been digging in peat, with helicopters dumping buckets of water, Schinkel said.
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Marilyn Hoskins and her husband Richard were back in Lac du Bonnet Tuesday to refill some prescriptions and pick up their mail.
The couple's home is in an area still under an evacuation order. Hoskins said they found out Tuesday it may take multiple days before they're allowed to return.
"I wish I was on that list, but … our safety is priority," she said. The couple has been staying in a Selkirk hotel along with other evacuees.
"Sure, we're frustrated. But there's no point in being angry because it's out of our hands. Mother Nature is not happy with us and that's just the way it is."
More structure damage in Nopiming
While the RM of Lac du Bonnet fire is now being held, the Bird River/Nopiming fire to the northeast is a big concern.
That one, still listed as out of control, covers more than 100,000 hectares. By comparison, the Lac du Bonnet fire peaked at 4,000 hectares.
"This fire is of the size and magnitude that if it turned on us with residents at home in the east region, the impacts would be devastating," the Facebook post said.
As a result, all areas east of Belluk Road, along Highways 313 and 315 — including Pinawa Bay and Sunset Bay — remain under evacuation orders.
The Bird River/Nopiming fire destroyed 20 cabins and homes around Beresford Lake to its north. The province announced Tuesday afternoon another 19 structures on seasonal sites at Black Lake, including trailers and boats, were damaged. People there have said boats melted in the heat.
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The only other fire in the province listed as out of control is the one impacting Whiteshell Provincial Park. It started in Ingolf, Ont., along the Manitoba-Ontario border, and crept into the Whiteshell.
As of Monday night, the Ingolf fire had reached more than 31,000 hectares in size.
A fire in the rural municipality of Piney, southeast of the Whiteshell, was listed as out of control, but its status was changed Tuesday to "being held." An evacuation order was lifted Monday, allowing residents to return.
There are 11 fires currently active in Manitoba, according to the province's FireView page.
This article, originally published by CBC News on May 20, 2025, was written by Darren Bernhardt with files from Meaghan Ketcheson, Mike Arsenault and Radio-Canada.