Homesickness sets in for northern evacuees waiting it out in Winnipeg

Winnipeg Free Press

5 hours ago

Northern Manitoba wildfire evacuee Helen Bighetty misses tending to the flowers in her yard and going for walks where she is surrounded by forest and tranquility.
Bighetty, 57, doesn't know when she will do those activities again because her home community, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan), remains evacuated, with no return date in sight.
'I miss home. I miss Mother Nature. Being in a hotel room, you can't do much,' she said at a Winnipeg hotel where about 60 evacuees are staying. 'It's hard, but I know we will eventually go home.'
RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS
Local Evacuees Helen Bighetty and her mother, Theresa Bighetty, from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, look forward to when they can go home.
Thousands of evacuees began returning to Flin Flon and nearby cottage areas Wednesday. Lynn Lake residents, meanwhile, were warned the northwestern town could be evacuated again, less than a week after they were allowed to return.
Home to more than 2,200 people, Mathias Colomb issued a mandatory evacuation order May 28, a day after losing power, as an out-of-control fire closed in. Flin Flon residents were forced out the same day.
Hundreds of Mathias Colomb residents were stranded for a few days while smoke prevented planes from landing at an airport next to the remote community, which is accessible only by air, rail and winter road.
While helicopters rescued a handful or a dozen people at a time, First Nations leaders asked the federal government for help.
Canadian Armed Forces Chinook helicopters joined the effort as the evacuation left Mathias Colomb members scattered across Manitoba and in hotels in Niagara Falls, Ont.
The 55,140-hectare fire near Mathias Colomb is contained and being monitored, the province said, but it is not yet safe to return.
'There's no power, no water in our community. People are working hard back home,' Bighetty said.
For some residents, it's the third wildfire-related evacuation in their lifetime. It took three months to fully restore the community's power supply after poles and equipment were damaged by a fire in 2022.
Evacuees, who fled with few belongings this time, told the Free Press they miss their traditions or way of life at home.
'I miss home. I miss Mother Nature. Being in a hotel room, you can't do much.'–Helen Bighetty
Bighetty's 86-year-old mother, Theresa Bighetty, said she normally would be tending to a garden where she plants potatoes, onions and carrots.
She misses camping and foraging for traditional medicines and berries.
'I feel sad, but they're treating us right,' the elder said about the agencies that are supporting evacuees.
Many evacuees, especially elders, from Mathias Colomb are not used to being in a city the size of Winnipeg, Helen Bighetty said. Some are lonely or have 'cabin fever' in hotels.
'Here, there's always sirens. It's busy 24-7,' she said. 'Back home, you feel the quietness of nature. I'm just very thankful for the service we've been getting (at the hotel). We're well taken care of, but I know city life is not for me.'
Bighetty, a health-care worker who's been co-ordinating resources and activities for evacuees at the hotel, said everyone is trying to stay busy. Nightly card games, sightseeing, bead work and sewing help to pass the time.
Evacuees have had to cope with changes to their diets. Fish and wild game are staples at home.
Catered meals, arranged by the Canadian Red Cross, are delivered to the hotel, with hamburgers, French fries, soup, sandwiches and wraps among the usual offerings, Bighetty said.
'Back home, you feel the quietness of nature. I'm just very thankful for the service we've been getting (at the hotel). We're well taken care of, but I know city life is not for me.'–Helen Bighetty
Some meals do not meet the needs of evacuees who have health conditions, she said.
A Red Cross spokesperson said the agency is working with Mathias Colomb's leadership to ensure meals meet the needs of evacuees.
The spokesperson said requests are forwarded to the caterer, and evacuees are encouraged to report dietary requirements.
In Lynn Lake, fire trucks were strategically positioned in and around the community in case wind gusts pushed an out-of-control blaze toward the town.
There was no imminent threat as of noon Wednesday, the town said in a social media post, which told residents to be prepared to leave on short notice.
The fire, which previously encroached into the town, was about 71,860 hectares in size. An air-quality warning was in effect.
More than 900 residents of Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb First Nation were forced to flee May 27 and 28, respectively. Evacuation orders ended June 20.
Lynn Lake resident Gerald Maniel said he was feeling 'kind of nervous.' He did not want to go through a second evacuation, after spending three nights in a shelter and the rest of the time at his sister's home in Thompson.
SUPPLIED
Photo taken by Helen Bighetty before she left Mathias Colomb Cree Nation when residents were forced to flee a wildfire that spread close to the northwestern community in late May.
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'They figured the wind direction was getting to be a factor and the fire might pick up again,' Maniel, 44, said. 'I'm not even unpacked from the last time.'
The province said 18 wildfires were active in Manitoba Wednesday, with a total of 131 fires this year. The average for June 25 was 138 fires. The total area burned in the province is more than 909,000 hectares.
More than half of Manitoba's 22,000-plus evacuees are from communities that have since reopened.
The province said Manigotagan River Provincial Park and a portion of the northwest corner of Nopiming Provincial Park, including Quesnel Lake, will reopen to day users, cottagers and commercial operators at 8 a.m. Friday.
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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.
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