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Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba wildfire evacuee recalls harrowing journey of smoke and tears — and immense relief after month-long evacuation
FLIN FLON — Just past 8 p.m. on the day residents are permitted back into Flin Flon, a dark grey sedan kicks up dust on the gravel road along Jones Square outside city centre. The car comes to a stop on a parking pad surrounded by overgrown grass on the quiet residential street. A tall man with dark hair and sunglasses climbs out of the driver's seat and pauses for a moment to look at the log cabin with green trim in front of him. A wide grin stretches across Brett Holland's face; it's the first time he's seen his home in nearly a month. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Brett Holland returns to his home in Flin Flon on Wednesday. He doesn't savour the moment for too long. He read rumours on Facebook of looting in other communities emptied out due to wildfire and he needs to take stock of everything he left behind. The kayaks, bikes, quad and old trucks scattered across his front yard seem to be where he left them. 'My fishing gear is still here, that's what I was really worried about,' he quips, gesturing to a yellow bag with a rod poking out. The city's 5,100 residents were ordered out on May 27 with little prep time and many dropped everything and fled, including Holland. Last week, town officials decided the threat of a 370,000 hectare wildfire burning nearby was minimal and it was safe for residents to return home. At 9 a.m. Wednesday morning, RCMP removed the blockades into town so residents of Flin Flon, Denare Beach, Sask., and Creighton, Sask., could repatriate the communities. After a once-over of his yard, Holland clambers up the few steps onto his front porch with his 11-year-old commander shepherd, aptly named Commander, close behind him. A blue plastic ribbon tied to the railing signifies his home was cleared by the RCMP when they did a sweep of the community to ensure everyone got out as directed. Holland opens the glass sliding door from the porch into his living room and he breathes a sigh of relief: it doesn't smell like rotten produce or forgotten garbage. A pot of soup on the stove and some dishes on the counter will need a good scrub, but his guitar, TV and couch are just where he left them. 'It was terrifying leaving. When I got into Winnipeg I was thinking of everything I left behind,' he says. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Brett Holland unloads the car after returning home. He gestures to two square urns on a side table inscribed with his parents' names. He glances over at the wooden trim around his daughter's room etched with dates and heights to keep track of how much she's grown. 'It's stuff you can't replace.' Unable to avoid it any longer, Holland opens the fridge door and is relieved. Some cut-up watermelon in a bowl has grown fuzzy spots and a carton of eggs needs to be thrown away, but the smell is bearable and cleanup shouldn't take long. 'I'll take it, could have been a lot worse,' he says. The 34 year old, who moved to Flin Flon on a whim from Fernie, B.C., nine years ago, remembers being out for a walk in May with his girlfriend when they noticed a plume of smoke in the distance. They chalked it up to a fire at the Creighton dump a few kilometers across the provincial border. A few days later, that smoke took over the horizon. 'The first couple days you just didn't know. It could have gone either way. You looked at the fire map and it wasn't looking good,' Holland said. When the evacuation order came down, his daughter Ellie, 6, was at school and he didn't know whether to pick her up or if she would be rushed home on the school bus. Holland packed a suitcase of Ellie's clothes, three shirts and a pair of pants for himself, an emergency kit and camping gear, picked up his daughter and hit the road to Winnipeg. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS About 5,100 Flin Flon residents were ordered out on May 27 with little prep time and many dropped everything and fled, including Brett Holland. After about six-and-a-half hours, he had made it as far as St. Laurent, about 80 kilometres from Winnipeg, but then the adrenaline wore off and they slept on the side of the road before finishing the drive the next morning. Holland hears he's among the first wave of people to return home. Friends tell him they're waiting until all stores and services are back online before making their way back, but Holland craved normalcy. After some cleaning, a long shower and longer sleep, Holland says he's ready to go back to work first thing Thursday morning. 'I want to work. My boss called me on the way home and said we need to restock all the stores,' he said. Holland works for Arctic Beverages and usually stocks Pepsi products across the city, but he's needed on the bread truck to fill grocery shelves in the coming days. 'I'm excited. It'll feel a little bit normal. I just want to get up, make a coffee, go to work and just have a regular day.' When he was staying at his brother's house in Winnipeg while evacuated, he paced around the home the first couple days, not knowing what to do with himself. After a while, he'd meet up with fellow evacuees at community barbecues in city parks organized by residents. He'd also run into them at malls. 'Just so we could deal with the shock of it all together instead of separately,' Holland said. 'That really helped.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Brett Holland takes stock of his belongings following the wildfire evacuation order. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. He is under no illusion this is the end of wildfire season. He knows a second evacuation is possible. He plans to pack a go bag and got tips from friends in Alberta who know — all too well — how to insurance-proof homes, after experiencing multiple wildfire evacuations themselves. He sheepishly admits he cried several times on the eight-hour drive home from Winnipeg. 'I just missed everybody. It was such a shock. And then you see everyone popping up on Facebook sitting on their porches and it's like, 'oh, we're all back,'' he says. 'We all made it.' Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole. Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
CBC
21-06-2025
- CBC
Flin Flon residents unsure what they'll come home to as city readies to lift evacuation order
Social Sharing Some Flin Flon residents are having mixed feelings after learning they will soon be allowed back home, saying they're nervous about what state they will find the city in nearly a month after a wildfire forced them out. Officials with the northwestern Manitoba city announced Thursday evening they're gearing up to lift the evacuation order on Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT. About 5,100 Flin Flon residents are expected to begin to journey home then, 28 days after the order was put in place. "I'm kind of nervous to see what it's going to look like," said Brett Holland. The Flin Flon evacuee said he's been busking around Winnipeg with a rental guitar to keep his mind off the fire and also keep his daughter busy. "We got pictures and we saw that the fire map.… It looks like it did a lot of damage," Holland said. "I've seen some videos, but I'm sure it'll hit once we get up there." WATCH | Flin Flon evacuees anxious as they gear up for return: 'Excited' and 'nervous' wildfire evacuees poised to return to Flin Flon 12 hours ago Duration 2:02 As evacuees from the northern Manitoba communities of Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb Cree Nation were allowed to go home Friday, people forced from their homes in Flin Flon by a nearby wildfire were also making plans for their return in the coming week, bringing mixed reactions for some. The fire near Flin Flon was about 370,780 hectares in size as of Friday's wildfire bulletin. A fire south of the city near Bakers Narrows Provincial Park was about 7,200 hectares. Holland said he's bracing for changes. "We're big into hiking and kayaking and fishing," he said. "I saw some videos where the fire was right under hiking trails. So I'm kind of worried about, you know, everything that we used to enjoy doing just being gone." 'For us to sort of still be standing is miraculous' The Flin Flon re-entry will go ahead so long as there is no unexpected fire behaviour and the plan to get essential services working goes smoothly, officials said Thursday. Flin Flon Deputy Mayor Alison Dallas-Funk warned residents health-care services will be limited and that there will be a lack of supplies at grocery stores. Noelle Drimmie said there's a lot of uncertainty as she looks to plan out the days ahead — including the long drive home with two small children. "We don't know what's happening with daycare currently," she said. "There's going to be a lot of things just to work on.… We're going to have to clean. We've had power outages, right? So, you know, the fridges and the freezers and, you know, we left a bunch of bananas on the counter." On Friday, Saskatchewan officials announced residents of the town of Creighton — which is adjacent to Flin Flon — as well as nearby Denare Beach will also be allowed to go home, starting Sunday morning. Drimmie said some of her friends living on the Saskatchewan side of the border have lost their homes. "It's astounding to see … the devastation that has surrounded the town," Drimmie said. "For us to sort of still be standing is miraculous in a lot of ways, but again, very devastating for the Saskatchewan side, and I know there's … cabins and things like that on the Manitoba side have been lost as well."
