Approximately 17,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes as wildfires rage across the Canadian province of Manitoba.
The mass evacuations are a result of nearly two dozen active wildfires spreading across the province. Among those displaced, over 5,000 people are from Flin Flon, a city located roughly 645 kilometers (400 miles) northwest of Winnipeg, the provincial capital.
The immediate forecast offers no hope of rain, exacerbating concerns that a shift in wind direction could bring the fire into the town, although there have been no structure fires in the city as of Saturday morning.
Manitoba declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, as fires burning from the northwest to the southeast prompted evacuations in several communities.
The province is located directly north of the US states of Minnesota and North Dakota, and smoke from the fires is being pushed south, causing air quality to deteriorate in some parts of the US.
Other provinces have also been affected, with thousands displaced by wildfires in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In the community of Swan Hills, northwest of Edmonton, 1,300 people have been forced to evacuate.
In northern Manitoba, a fire knocked out power to the community of Cranberry Portage, leading to a mandatory evacuation order for approximately 600 residents on Saturday. People living in smaller nearby communities have been told to prepare for potential evacuation as a fire jumped a highway.
“Please start getting ready and making plans to stay with family and friends as accommodations are extremely limited,” Lori Forbes, the emergency coordinator for the Rural Municipality of Kelsey, posted on social media.
Evacuation centers have opened across the province for those fleeing the fires, including one as far south as Winkler, Manitoba, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the US border.
Evacuations that started earlier in the week for Pimicikamak Cree Nation ramped up Saturday, when five flights were expected to take residents to Winnipeg. “The wildfire has crossed the main road, and the area remains filled with smoke and ash,” Chief David Monias wrote on social media.
Winnipeg has opened up public buildings for evacuees as it deals with hotels already crammed with other fire refugees, vacationers, business people and convention-goers.
The fire menacing Flin Flon began Monday near Creighton, Saskatchewan, and quickly jumped the boundary into Manitoba. Crews have struggled to contain it. Water bombers have been intermittently grounded due to heavy smoke and a drone incursion.
The 1,200 or so residents of Creighton have also been ordered out, many of whom have gone to nearby Nipawin, Saskatchewan. In total, more than 8,000 people have fled wildfires in Saskatchewan.
Canada’s wildfire season runs from May through September. Its worst-ever wildfire season was in 2023. It choked much of North America with dangerous smoke for months.
