Winds turn wildfire into 'really big beast' near The Pas, evacuations increase
'It was extremely terrifying for many, many people': emergency co-ordinator Lori Forbes
A Manitoba wildfire threatening various communities over the past week was intensified by strong winds overnight, forcing hundreds more people to evacuate.
"A lot of them came very quickly, as these winds were pretty crazy last night, which is so strange in the night," Lori Forbes, emergency co-ordinator for the rural municipality of Kelsey around The Pas, said Friday morning.
"We had very many areas immediately under threat. It was extremely terrifying for many, many people," she said. "These winds keep changing a little bit and sending it in a different direction."
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Everyone was forced out of the community of Wanless as well as along the east and north shores of Rocky Lake, while a number of residents in the Carrot Valley and Clearwater Lake Provincial Park were also ushered out.
"One minute everything was fine and [we're] not really concerned. And within 15 minutes, the wind changed and we had to get people out right now. So yeah, it's been a very busy, long night," Forbes told CBC Manitoba Information Radio host Marcy Markusa.
"This is a really big beast."
The fire is just west and northwest of The Pas — close enough to cause thick smoke and ash in town but not yet threatening it, Forbes said.
Two of the evacuees on Thursday night were Delaney McIntyre and her son, who had to leave Sunset Beach in Clearwater Lake Provincial Park.
McIntyre posted a video on Facebook showing flames incinerating trees just off the side of road, filling the sky with dark smoke and ash.
"I wasn't expecting to see fire that close. I was kind of concerned it may have jumped the road and I wasn't sure if everyone was going to be able to get out," she told Markusa.
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McIntyre lives in Opaskwayak Cree Nation in The Pas area, but was staying in Clearwater to look after a property that belongs to her sister, who is away in Mexico. The road she was on serves several beach communities in the area, "and there's only one way out, one way in," she said.
In her Facebook post, she wrote "fires are coming from every angle."
She said her son was scared so she tried to joke and laugh so as not to alarm him even more.
Forbes hadn't yet totalled the exact number of evacuees but hoped to have solid numbers later in the day.
"Whether we're going to evacuate more today or not, it's really going to depend on that fire," she said.
Evacuees have had to find room with family and friends because all hotels in The Pas are full, Forbes said. Others have driven south to Swan River and Dauphin and even farther, to Winnipeg and Brandon.
Forbes is meeting with the Manitoba Wildfire Service on Friday to get an update on the situation and damages.
'Extremely challenging day'
"I can tell you that yesterday was an extremely challenging day for the Manitoba Wildfire Service — really, really stressful," Premier Wab Kinew told Markusa on Friday morning.
Another fire near a gold mine under construction in the Lynn Lake area was causing a great deal of concern until rain arrived yesterday and helped ease the situation, he said.
And there's a fire on the east side of Lake Winnipeg, near Black River, where some preliminary precautionary evacuations are taking place for people with breathing conditions, Kinew said.
"So unfortunately, we do have Manitobans out of their homes today."
The lack of rain in other parts of the province has prompted the Manitoba Wildfire Service to implement restrictions starting Friday morning, including a total ban on all motorized backcountry travel.
There is also a ban on all fires between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., while those outside of the prohibited hours must be in an approved campfire pit.
Provincial burn permits issued under the Wildfires Act in the eastern and Interlake regions are also cancelled, and none will be issued until fire danger conditions improve.
A fire burns next to the road in a photo taken as Delaney McIntyre evacuated Sunset Beach in Clearwater Lake Provincial Park on Thursday night. (Delaney McIntyre/Facebook)
A map of the affected areas is available on the province's website.
"It's a very challenging situation already, so as you head out this weekend for your plans, please take a look at what all the restrictions are," Kinew said.
There are 12 fires currently burning in the province, covering 12,248 hectares, according to the Manitoba government's FireView map, which displays the location and status of current wildfire activity in the province.
All are listed as being started by humans and three are currently out of control, though the one near The Pas is by far the largest at 6,600 hectares, as of the last update on the FireView site.
It was first detected on May 3 and quickly grew from 100 hectares to 6,600 within four days.
Information on that situation is constantly being posted on the RM of Kelsey website and Facebook page, Forbes said, and many communities and cottagers' associations are also posting updates on their social media channels.
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This article, written by Darren Bernhardt, was originally published for CBC News