
Rain welcomed as crews continue to fight northern wildfires
Rain overnight and into Sunday offered a bit of hope to areas of northern Manitoba that wildfires have scorched in recent weeks.
Sherridon Deputy Mayor Sheryl Matheson told the Free Press on Sunday morning rain was falling in the town, which is about 900 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
'They are hoping it helps,' she said, adding that extra wildfire crews fighting the nearby blaze are keeping things stable in the town of about 60 people, all of whom have been evacuated to Dauphin.
SUPPLIED
Wildfire west of the northern community of Sherridon on May 26. As of Sunday, rain was finally falling in the community.
Firefighters in Flin Flon, which was also receiving some light rain on Sunday, and Sherridon have been holding back flames for more than a week. The merged fire covered more than 307,000 hectares as of Saturday.
Lori Forbes, the rural municipality of Kelsey's emergency co-ordinator, said The Pas had also received some rain on Sunday morning, and she was hearing reports there was some in Cranberry Portage, which is under a mandatory evacuation order.
'We will take what we can get,' she said.
An update from Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) on Sunday stated the wildfire in the area, which is nearly 60,000 hectares in size, remains a significant concern, although current weather conditions, which included rain on Sunday, have slowed its growth.
Incident Commander Caleb Finch reported three to four millimetres of rainfall, standing water on roads and lower cloud ceilings contributing to cooler temperatures and higher humidity, all of which are reducing fire activity for the time being.
An update from Pimicikamak said aerial firing operations are being considered to help control the fire, but are on hold at the moment until conditions become hotter and drier.
'The fire continues to threaten both road access and the local power supply, maintaining a high-risk situation for the community,' the update said.
Crews were working on high-priority areas, including securing perimeters near Highway 373 and 374, protecting critical infrastructure, such as power lines and poles, and containing the spread on surrounding islands and heavily timbered areas.
More than 18,000 people have been evacuated in Manitoba, including 7,500 in Pimicikamak and 5,000 in Flin Flon.
The desperately needed rain will continue this week in Manitoba, but sustained showers aren't in the forecast.
'What we need to quell the fires up north are several days' worth of sustained rainfall, of course. We don't see that coming up in the near future, unfortunately,' said Eric Dykes, a Winnipeg-based meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.
As of late Sunday morning, many areas of northern Manitoba had received 10 to 15 millimetres of rain in the past 24 hours. Sherridon got 13.5 mm, while William River west of Norway House saw 14.7 mm.
Most of this weekend's rain hit southern parts of the province, kicking up some 'dust devil' clouds in the Morden-Winkler area and producing pea-sized hail around Niverville.
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.
The provincial high 24-hour rainfall accumulation was north of Fisher Branch, with 29.2 mm.
Scattered, light showers are expected to continue throughout northern Manitoba this week, particularly Tuesday through Thursday, with Friday expected to be dry. The wildfire areas need much more rain than is forecast.
'That being said, this rain will help,' Dykes said.
scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca
With files from Katie May
Scott BilleckReporter
Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott.
Every piece of reporting Scott 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.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBC
6 hours ago
- CBC
Riley Laychuk's Manitoba forecast for Thursday, June 12, 2025
A pleasant evening for some football in Winnipeg tonight. Looking toward the weekend, another system could bring a good soaking rain to the north.


Calgary Herald
16 hours ago
- Calgary Herald
Feeling hazy from the wildfire smoke? Here's why
With seasonal wildfire smoke rolling into Calgary, residents often have questions about all the things that come with it. Article content On June 11, Environment Canada issued an air quality warning for Calgary between the AQHI categories of 7 and 10 over the last 24 hours. Article content Article content But what does that mean? How are these measured? And how does it affect the health and safety of Calgarians? Experts from across the province explain how air quality is measured and the risks that come with it. Article content Article content Article content Christy Climenhaga, a scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said Canada's Air Quality Health Index serves as a way to help evaluate the adverse effects of wildfire smoke. Article content The index itself ranges from one to 10-plus, with different brackets indicating each risk factor. For example, indexes between one to three indicate a low risk, four to six indicate a moderate risk, and seven to 10 indicate a high risk. Article content 'So, the higher the number, the higher the risk,' Climenhaga said. 'When you're looking at seven, eight, nine, you are in that high-risk category, while 10 and 10-plus are very high risk in terms of negative health effects from wildfire smoke.' Article content The rating is determined by looking at the fine particulate matter. This matter is also known as PM2.5, which is extremely small particles in the air. It measures around 2.5 micrometers, and cannot be seen by the human eye. Article content Article content Article content Based on their observations, Climenhaga said a number of fires over northern Alberta and B.C. have lofted heavy plumes of smoke into the atmosphere. Additionally, a large and intense plume of smoke that stretches across all of Alberta and Saskatchewan are contributing to the smoke arriving in Calgary. Article content 'It's likely going to keep going to be a smoky day today, and we are starting to see some changes in our long-range forecasts, indicating a little smoke on Thursday, then starting to clear out on Friday,' she said.


Winnipeg Free Press
17 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cranberry Portage residents to return home Saturday; Ontario out of room for Manitoba fire evacuees
A northern community evacuated due to wildfire has been deemed safe for residents to return this weekend, while Ontario has stopped accepting evacuees from Manitoba after welcoming thousands to Niagara Falls. Residents of Cranberry Portage, about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, were told late Wednesday afternoon they can begin returning at 8 a.m. Saturday — two weeks after a mandatory evacuation order was issued — based on guidance from an incident command centre. 'They're certainly saying to us, at this time, that (Cranberry Portage evacuees) are safe to return home,' said Lori Forbes, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey's emergency co-ordinator. 'I know people are going to be very excited to go home.' She said 323 evacuees registered with her, but the total number will be higher because she doesn't have access to electronic registrations. About 438 people registered when Cranberry Portage was evacuated due to wildfire in May 2024. The Manitoba Wildfire Service said a blaze that began south of the community on May 27 was still out of control and about 4,920 hectares in size. The fire was caused by human activity. Forbes said recent rain and higher humidity levels helped crews. 'They've been able to do a little more ground work to get (fire) lines in place and stop the movement of fires,' she said. Some other evacuated communities have started preparing re-entry plans for evacuees, who are scattered across Manitoba and some locations out of province. Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Doreen Spence said 60 more evacuees from her community were scheduled to fly from Thompson to Hamilton Monday night, but an Indigenous Service Canada official told her a few hours before take-off that the flight was cancelled. 'They said (Ontario) is at capacity right now. They wouldn't be accepting anymore Manitobans,' Spence said about the arrangement between governments. An Ontario government spokesperson, speaking on background, said the intake of Manitoba evacuees was paused while Sandy Lake First Nation, in northwestern Ontario, was rapidly evacuated due to a fire that doubled in size within hours over the weekend. About 2,300 Manitobans are staying in Niagara Falls. The spokesperson said Ontario will continue to work closely with Manitoba and the federal government to provide available supports. With official evacuation flights to Ontario halted, some Tataskweyak residents who did not have their own accommodation in Thompson were taken by bus from that city to a shelter in Sagkeeng First Nation and hotels in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Last week, the Manitoba government confirmed the decision to send some evacuees out of province was made jointly with the federal government. The province said last week that 1,500 hotel rooms were secured in Niagara Falls, with about 800 occupied. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems.'–Brenda Frogg Spence said close to 700 Tataskweyak residents were taken to Ontario after the community began an evacuation May 29 due to an out-of-control fire nearby. About 70 to 80 essential workers, including Spence, remain in Tataskweyak, which has a population of about 2,600 and is approximately 770 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Threatened by a separate fire, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) also learned this week Ontario is no longer accepting Manitoba evacuees, said Coun. Brenda Frogg, who helped co-ordinate flights. It was her understanding that Ontario was overcapacity. About 300 Pimicikamak residents have been taken to Niagara Falls since the northern community issued a mandatory evacuation order May 28, she said. Lori Osborne, one of Pimicikamak's estimated 7,500 evacuees, stayed in Niagara Falls with her boyfriend and four children until they had to return to Winnipeg Tuesday due to a family emergency in Manitoba. 'I felt like I was not even an evacuee,' she said of the experience, which included sightseeing of the falls and visits to tourist attractions. Some evacuees from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan) and Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon) were also moved to Niagara Falls. The Canadian Red Cross had registered more than 20,500 evacuees provincewide as of Monday. The agency said more than 1,600 hotel rooms in Winnipeg were secured. Spence said some Tataskweyak evacuees in Winnipeg had to move to different hotels because of limited room availability at some locations. Spence and Frogg said it is not yet known when evacuees from Pimicikamak or Tataskweyak will be allowed home. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems,' Frogg, a nurse, said by phone from Pimicikamak, where she was providing nursing cover for essential workers who remain in the community. Pimicikamak and Flin Flon are among evacuated communities that have started discussing or developing phased re-entry plans. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant.'–Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence Evacuees were told it will likely be some time before it is safe to return to areas where fires still pose a danger, and essential and safety services are not yet restored. Spence said fire-damaged Manitoba Hydro infrastructure near Tataskweyak has to be repaired. The Manitoba government reported 25 active wildfires on Wednesday. Nine were out of control, including a blaze that stretched from Bird River to Bissett, in eastern Manitoba. The fire, which started May 12 and is known as EA061, covered about 218,700 hectares, including parts of Nopiming Provincial Park. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence said all efforts have been taken to protect the evacuated community, which is home to about 110 people. She said Bissett residents are grateful to those who've contributed to the effort, including staff from multiple provincial departments, the local fire department and Beausejour Brokenhead Fire Department. U.S. firefighters were deployed to the Bissett area this week. Residents have provided accommodations and meals for essential workers, and helped to ensure a water plan remains operational. 'Our hopes are that these continued efforts from wildfire services will contain this fire and allow us to go home,' Nicholson-Spence wrote in an email. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant and ready to meet this threat as safely as we are able to do so.' 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.