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CTV News
12-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
Evacuees arrive in Winnipeg as wildfires force thousands out, bring smoke advisories
Trees burned by wildfires in northern Manitoba are shown during a helicopter tour in the surrounding area of Flin Flon, Man., Thursday, June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mike Deal-Pool WINNIPEG — Evacuees from northern Manitoba continued to pour into Winnipeg Friday as a renewed round of wildfires threatened communities and shrouded much of the province in smoke. 'It's been rough,' Misty Harper said, as she and her partner walked outside of a large indoor soccer complex set up to house evacuees, along with her one-year-old daughter in a stroller. Some people sat at picnic tables under small canopies or on grass in an adjacent field. Buses filled with more evacuees arrived a few times each hour. Harper, her partner and five children were among more than 3,000 people being flown out of Garden Hill First Nation, which is not accessible by road. The family spent several hours at the airport near Garden Hill before arriving late Thursday and sleeping on cots in the soccer complex. They were waiting Friday for word on whether hotel rooms would be available until it's safe for them to return home. 'All the kids were getting tired and moody. Everybody was getting hungry, so it was really stressful,' she said. 'It's hard to sleep in there with all these people. A lot of kids running around and whatnot.' Manitoba is under a provincewide state of emergency as wildfires continue to rage, forcing even more evacuations out of northern communities. The government declared the order Thursday, for the second time this year. With the latest round of fires and evacuations, the province reported more than one million hectares burned — more than 10 times the average over the last 20 years. It is the largest amount of land burned in the 30 years the province has kept electronic records. In total, about 12,600 people are out of their homes in Manitoba. The government gave notice that it intends to use Winnipeg's major convention centre to house more evacuees. An anime conference was taking place at the centre Friday and was set to run all weekend. The military stepped in with a large Hercules transport plane to fly people out of Garden Hill. Harper and some others were taken out on smaller planes. Among the other evacuated communities is Snow Lake, a town 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg with about 1,000 residents. Mayor Ron Scott said people left by highway earlier in the week and he was planning to leave Friday. 'Everyone that needs to be out is gone now,' he said. A wildfire was about six kilometres away from the town's doorstep — some 10 kilometres closer than it was two days earlier. 'It's a bit of a guessing game right now,' Scott said. Manitoba RCMP said officers helped complete evacuations in Snow Lake, Lynn Lake, Leaf Rapids, Granville Lake and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation. Environment Canada has issued air quality warnings and advisories for much of the province, including Winnipeg. Some people, including seniors and those with heart and lung issues, are at greater risk due to air pollution. In Saskatchewan, crews worked frantically overnight to save buildings in the evacuated village of Beauval, 340 kilometres north of Saskatoon. Steve Roberts, with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, said so far they have been successful, with only one shed and a car burned. Beauval has seen 560 residents leave. The area is threatened by the Muskeg fire, which has now expanded to 950 square kilometres. Road access has been cut to the community of Patuanak, north of Beauval and home to about 700 residents. About 120 high-priority cases, including seniors and young children and those with medical issues, were being airlifted out. In total there are just under 1,000 people out of their homes due to wildfires in Saskatchewan, most of them in the area in and around Beauval. Crews are battling 57 fires, 14 of which are out of control. Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
Global News
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Global News
Evacuees arrive in Winnipeg as wildfires force thousands out, bring smoke advisories
Evacuees continued to arrive in Winnipeg by the busload Friday as a renewed round of wildfires put thousands out of their homes – some for a second time – while thick smoke shrouded much of Manitoba. More than 3,000 residents were being airlifted out of Garden Hill First Nation, 480 kilometres north of Winnipeg, ahead of out-of-control fires. Misty Harper said she left Garden Hill with her five children and husband Thursday morning. They spent up to nine hours at an airport before they got on a smaller plane to Winnipeg. 'All the kids were getting tired and moody. Everybody was getting hungry, so it was really stressful,' she said about the journey to a Winnipeg recreation centre that is housing wildfire evacuees. She said Friday at around noon local time that all of her children except her one-year-old were still sleeping on cots. 'It's been rough,' she said. Story continues below advertisement She said she was still waiting for more information on whether hotel rooms were available for her family to stay in until it's safe for them to return home. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Manitoba is under a provincewide state of emergency as wildfires continue to rage, forcing even more evacuations out of northern communities. The government declared the order Thursday, for the second time this year, and with the latest round of fires and evacuations, the province reported more than one million hectares burned — more than 10 times the average over the last 20 years. In total, about 12,600 people are out of their homes in Manitoba. The government gave notice that it intends to use Winnipeg's major convention centre to house evacuees. The military stepped in Wednesday evening with a large Hercules transport plane to fly people out of Garden Hill as fires approached. It's a fly-in community not accessible by road. Snow Lake, a town 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, also issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 1,000 residents. The town's Mayor Ron Scott says he was planning to leave early Friday afternoon. 'Everyone that needs to be out is gone now,' he said. He said a wildfire was about six kilometres away from the town's doorsteps as of Friday morning. 'It's a bit of a guessing game right now.' Story continues below advertisement Environment Canada has issued air quality warnings and advisories for much of the province, including Winnipeg. Some people, including seniors and those with heart and lung issues, are at greater risk due to air pollution. In Saskatchewan, crews worked frantically Friday to save buildings in the evacuated village of Beauval, 340 kilometres north of Saskatoon. The emergency operations centre reported the canteen at the recreation grounds had been levelled. The fires also cut road access to the community of Patuanak, which is north of Beauval and home to about 700 residents. High priority cases, including seniors and young children and those with medical issues were being airlifted out.
Winnipeg Free Press
11-07-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘The fire is in my backyard': new wave of northern Manitoba evacuees seek shelter in Winnipeg
Misty Harper was running on little sleep and frayed nerves after her family was forced to flee an out-of-control wildfire that threatened their home in northern Manitoba. Harper, her partner Ryan Little and their five children, ages one to 15, spent Thursday night in a congregate shelter in Winnipeg, sleeping on cots alongside dozens of fellow evacuees, after being airlifted out of remote Garden Hill Anisininew Nation. 'We didn't really sleep well, did we?' she said, glancing at Little, while they took their one-year-old daughter, Diane, for a walk Friday morning. 'It's been rough. It's hard to sleep in there with all the people.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Evacuees from Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, Misty Harper, Ryan Little, and daughter, Diane, 1, outside the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North building at 770 Leila Ave. Friday morning. Harper and many other evacuees are waiting to find out if and when hotel rooms will become available in the capital city. Hotel rooms are in short supply in Manitoba, where the number of evacuees is expected to increase to about 12,600 as more northern communities carry out full or partial evacuations. More evacuees could be sent to hotels in other provinces, with about 1,400 already in Niagara Falls, Ont. Harper said her family is willing to be moved out of province if it means they won't have to stay in a shelter. The Manitoba government has a hotel-first policy during evacuations. An indoor soccer complex on Leila Avenue is again being used as a congregate shelter due to the high number of arrivals over a short period. The downtown convention centre, on York Avenue, is being prepared to host evacuees, after the province declared a state of emergency Thursday. Premier Wab Kinew has said there is enough space for 7,000 people, if needed. Billy Mosienko Arena on Keewatin Street is also available. For the most part, evacuees' first stop will be a congregate shelter, Kinew has said. Harper and her family left an airport near Garden Hill on board a commercial plane, after waiting about eight hours at the fly-in community's airport, and were then shuttled to the Leila Avenue shelter. Others boarded Canadian Armed Forces transport Hercules aircraft. More evacuation flights left Friday as the full evacuation of Garden Hill, home to more than 4,000 people, continued. The community is about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Harper said the experience was stressful and tiring, especially for her children. 'All the kids were getting tired and moody, and hungry,' she said. It wasn't the first time a wildfire forced the family to flee Garden Hill. They stayed in a shelter during an evacuation in 2017. Garden Hill resident Mathias Fiddler left with his partner and their six children, ages two to 13, on a Hercules flight Thursday night. Before departing, he said everyone was feeling tired after packing up and waiting hours at the airport for a flight to Winnipeg. 'The fire is in my backyard,' he told the Free Press. 'My kids keeps asking if we're going to be OK, but I talked to them. I just hope my home won't burn down and everyone gets out safe.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Food is unloaded for evacuees outside the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North building at on Leila Avenue Friday morning. Fiddler was not looking forward to sleeping in a shelter. His family spent three nights in a shelter during the last evacuation. 'I didn't feel safe when I was there,' he said. Fiddler said his family wants to stay in Winnipeg until the crisis is over, if and when a hotel room becomes available. Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 northern First Nations, has called for 'safe and suitable' accommodations for evacuees. 'We need hotels to prioritize evacuees and we need to ensure safety supports,' MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said. 'Right now, most of the newly displaced families are being sent to congregate shelters — spaces that are not safe or suitable for elders, young children or those with health concerns.' Harper's mind was on her home community and the safety of people who were still there, including her mother, who is an essential worker. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. 'It's really bad. The fire is really big back home,' she said, while north winds pushed wildfire smoke into Winnipeg, where an air-quality warning was in effect on Friday. Three fires merged to become single blaze that covered 2,000 hectares Thursday. Manitoba had 105 active fires at that time, making it the worst wildfire season in at least 30 years. Harper encouraged evacuees to look after each other while they are staying in Winnipeg or other places until it is safe to return home. 'Help each other out. That's all we can do right now,' she said. Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris 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.
