Saskatchewan lays charges in wildfires while 1,000 more flee in Manitoba

Toronto Star

a day ago

Prairie wildfires developed on two fronts Friday, as 1,000 more Manitoba residents were forced to flee their homes and Saskatchewan RCMP charged two people with starting blazes.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference that one charge relates to starting a fire near La Ronge, which has forced 7,000 people from the area.
'The RCMP have informed us that they have now charged a couple of individuals,' Moe said.
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An 18-year-old woman from Montreal Lake Cree Nation and a 36-year-old man from Pelican Narrows each face one count of arson, said RCMP.
It's alleged the woman set the fire in a rural area near La Ronge. The man is accused of setting fires in a ditch near the turnoff to Snowden, northeast of Prince Albert.
As of Friday, Saskatchewan had 24 active wildfires and Moe said between 10,000 and 15,000 people are out of their communities.
'Many if not virtually all of the fires that we're dealing with in Saskatchewan, although not intentionally, are human caused. Some of those have been intentionally human caused,' Moe said.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba are both under a state of emergency, which makes it easier for different levels of government to co-ordinate a response.
Manitoba has also received help from the military to evacuate residents, mainly in remote First Nations.
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Moe has faced calls from the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and the Opposition NDP to follow suit.
'Every available resource in Canada must be utilized to combat these wildfires,' FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron wrote in a letter to Moe. 'We cannot afford to let critical assistance go unused.'
The premier said while his Saskatchewan Party government is in daily contact with federal officials, provincial emergency crews have so far been able to get evacuees out.
Moe said the Canadian Red Cross was also working to set up shelters for evacuees in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
In Manitoba, the town of Snow Lake issued a mandatory evacuation order Friday due to a large wildfire threatening the area east of Flin Flon.
'You must leave because of the danger to your health and safety,' reads a notice on the town's Facebook page.
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That fire, which had grown to more than 3,000 square kilometres, has already forced out all 5,000 residents of the city of Flin Flon and about 1,000 more in surrounding homes and cottages.
With Snow Lake evacuees added in, about 19,000 were out of their homes in Manitoba. About 27 fires were burning in the province, with eight classified as out of control.
Earlier Friday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said evacuees have found places to stay with friends or family, in hotels or in congregate shelters.
Getting evacuees into private accommodations is tricky, he said, because many hotel rooms are being reserved for people with 'intense' medical issues.
'We just have to do a balancing act,' Kinew said. 'At this point, the big-picture challenge around rooms has largely been addressed.
'It's now just about the daily balancing act of triaging people coming in and people who are already in shelters and matching them up with rooms.'
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Shelters have been set up in Winnipeg, Thompson and Brandon.
The City of Flin Flon said on social media that no structures have been lost in the community or across the boundary in nearby Creighton, Sask.
'Winds in the area are now blowing from the south, resulting in heavy smoke and fire moving towards the south side of Flin Flon,' it said.
The city added that fire protection, including sprinklers, have been set up and firefighters are working to protect property.
Provincial fire officials said evacuations have been completed at First Nations at Pukatawagan and Cross Lake.
In northern Alberta, approximately 1,300 residents of the town of Swan Hills were allowed to return to their homes Thursday, about a week after fleeing from a wildfire.
But about 340 kilometres west in the County of Grande Prairie, people in the Municipal District of Opportunity were ordered out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
— With files from Steve Lambert in Winnipeg