Province puts $80-M down payment on three water bombers
Increased precipitation in northern Manitoba is giving provincial officials hope the upcoming wildfire season will be more manageable than last year.
'It's very difficult to predict now, but I can tell you compared to last year, northern Manitoba and western Manitoba is a lot better because the snow pack is a lot higher,' said Earl Simmons, the province's wildfire service director. 'It'll help rejuvenate the water levels in the lakes and the rivers.'
Manitoba's wildfire service will be flying over lakes and rivers this weekend to check ice conditions and look for open water to use should any wildfires break out.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Premier Wab Kinew checks out a plane after announcing funding to upgrade the provincial waterbomber aircraft fleet.
To date in 2025, the province has recorded 19 wildfires that have burned 1,852 hectares.
Eleven fires are actively burning. All are located in central Manitoba, the province's fire map shows.
The forecast comes on the heels of the Manitoba government putting an $80-million down payment on three new water bombers that will replace three aging aircraft in the province's seven-plane fleet.
That money for the new water bombers was earmarked in last month's provincial budget.
The planes will be De Havilland Canadair 515s, made by Babcock Canada, and will replace the fleet's CL 215 water bombers that are nearing the end of life with engines that were developed in the Second World War.
Premier Wab Kinew said the final cost of the aircraft is still under negotiation.
Simmons said he has faith in the province's current fleet despite its age.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Earl Simmons, the province's wildfire service director
'We're confident with with the maintenance by Babcock Canada … and the premier and the rest of the cabinet proactively boarding the water bombers so that we're ready when it's time to retire those water bombers,' he said during a Friday news conference.
The first plane is expected to join the province's fleet for the 2031 fire season, while the other two are expected to be added in 2032.
The new aircraft have updated navigation systems, increased tank capacity and more fuel-efficient engines.
The old planes could be sold back to Babcock or developing countries for their own fire-suppression operations, Simmons said.
Meantime,the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union called on the province to return aerial wildfire suppression to the public service.
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The previous PC government contracted wildfire suppression to Babcock in 2018 under a 10-year, $187-million contract in an effort to save money.
MGEU president Kyle Ross urged the NDPs to bring the service back in-house.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
The first plane is expected to join the province's fleet for the 2031 fire season, while the other two are expected to be added in 2032.
'These are public assets and public jobs that should serve the public interest,' Ross said in a news release. 'Bringing aerial fire suppression back into government hands will not only improve service quality, but it will also create good jobs and better value for Manitobans.'`
The province is also spending $6.7 million on new and more responsive firefighting equipment and systems, as well as $1.1 million over four years for a new weather information system, wildfire mapping and reporting systems.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
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.
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As they were grabbing supplies, trucks were driving around their neighbourhood with speakers ordering residents to evacuate. They drove nine hours to North Battleford, Sask. to stay with family because Kittle was worried all the hotels were full in Winnipeg and Brandon. The threatening flames and smoke loomed in the distance as they drove away. KIRA KITTLE PHOTO A photo of the wildfire outside of Flin Flon taken around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday. A photo of the wildfire outside of Flin Flon taken around 3:45 a.m. Wednesday. 'You really feel like the world is ending. You just feel sick to your stomach… I'm never going to get that out of my head,' she said. She had a bag with a couple of changes of clothes in her car but quickly ran back inside to grab some snacks, photo albums, electronics and cat litter. On the road, she feared there wouldn't be a home for her to return to. 'I just bought my house two years ago,' she said. 'I'm getting my life established right now.' 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MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Jack Selma, outside the Victoria Inn Hotel on Wellington Avenue, was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight home to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld. After spending the night at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre, the family was heading back to the nearby airport, where they would board a plane to take them home. A planned layover in Toronto meant they would not get there until at least Friday, making for three long and stressful days of travel, Selma said. Hunter and his partner fled their Ontario home, located about 10 kilometres east of the Manitoba border, two weeks ago, as a wildfire in Whiteshell Provincial Park raged nearby. 'We were just scrambling and took off,' he said, describing how they fled in their vehicle with little more than the clothes on their backs. He smoked a cigarette in the parking lot of the Best Western Plus Winnipeg Airport Hotel Thursday afternoon, watching as fresh evacuees from northern Manitoba poured in. The Red Cross had established a reception centre at the hotel, and many evacuees were staying on the building's third floor, he said. 'I told them to hang in there. It's OK, you just gotta hang in there, but you feel like you're displaced and all that,' he said. Hunter said he hoped to return home by June 7, but was feared high winds and temperatures might continue to fuel the fire, extending his stay in Manitoba's capital. Bighetty brought his wife and four young kids to Winnipeg last weekend, hoping to have a short vacation. The family was unsure whether it was wise to return to Thompson, which has been inundated with evacuees from the northern region, he said. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Ian Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Ian Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. Thompson is not currently under threat from fire, but the community has been subject to the same tinder-dry conditions as most of the province, placing many people in the community on edge, Bighetty said. A statement on the City of Thompson Facebook page urged residents to remain vigilant, warning seven intentionally set grass fires had been sparked in the community on Tuesday alone. 'My mom is pretty scared about that,' Bighetty said. 'I mean, that was unexpected.' Bighetty said his family would extend their stay in Winnipeg for at least a few days, and then decide how best to proceed. Colomb breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped onto the tarmac at the Premier Airspace hangar after a short flight from his home community. 'As long we made it out — me and my uncle — and hopefully everybody else make it out safely too,' he said. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS This is Brent Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS This is Brent Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. Colomb escorted his elderly uncle on the trip south and left his wife and nine children behind. Mathias Colomb was in the process of evacuating priority patients before getting others from the community to safety. This is Colomb's second evacuation in just as many years. In 2023, he and his family took a train to Norway House before taking a plane to Winnipeg because of nearby fires. He knew this year's evacuation was imminent when he woke up and saw a red glow across the horizon in the community. 'I said, 'Look, uncle, it's coming. The wind is blowing again,'' Colomb said. 'It's been a lot of anxiety,' Beardy said while smoking a cigarette outside the Premier Airspace hangar after a flight to Winnipeg from his First Nation community. 'I don't even know what happened.' Beardy was evacuated as a priority patient; he's spent the last two years in hospital with various illnesses, and was in a coma for six months. Elders, mothers, pregnant women and sick and disabled people were all flown out of the community as a priority. Others will follow throughout the day. After a long day, Beardy still needed to register with the Red Cross, but he didn't know where he and his brother would lay their heads Thursday night. 'I just don't know anything,' he said. — Compiled by Nicole Buffie, Tyler Searle and Matthew Frank fpcity@
