logo
Rain in forecast early this week could help wildfire crews in Manitoba

Rain in forecast early this week could help wildfire crews in Manitoba

CBC5 days ago
Social Sharing
Precipitation that's in the forecast early this week could help crews fighting wildfires that have been threatening a northern Manitoba city after smoke that's blanketed much of the Prairies over the weekend kept some firefighting aircraft grounded and forced the cancellation of a number of weekend events.
In an update posted to social media on Sunday, the City of Thompson said rain was forecast for the area on Monday as the community continues to advise residents to be ready to flee at short notice due to several fires.
But the battle against the flames was hampered on Saturday, the post said, because intense smoke meant that aerial crews were unable to do suppression work with helicopters and water bombers.
The smoke also meant crews weren't able to be deployed by helicopters, it noted.
The post said the smoke cleared some Sunday, and that crews would attempt to fly to the fire's eastern flank and "start wrapping that edge."
Warm and dry weather over the weekend didn't help, either.
"With the warm weather and lack of recent moisture, all of the fires in the region are showing more activity than in previous days," the post from the city noted.
Environment Canada Air issued air-quality warnings on Friday for parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan that lasted through the weekend.
Smoke also prevented sonar imaging of land burned by a fire that has kept people out of Tataskweyak Cree Nation, according to an update posted Saturday by the community's chief, Doreen Spence.
Further south in Gimli, Man., the final day of racing at the Sail West Regional Championships on Lake Winnipeg was cancelled on Sunday due to the presence of wildfire smoke.
"There was enough visibility to go sailing but it would have been unwise," Sail Manitoba president Eric Turner explained.
"We determined it was a risk to everyone's health."
There were 122 active wildfires burning across Manitoba as of Friday, with Saskatchewan reporting 51 active wildfires.
Spence acknowledged during her online update the frustration her community's evacuees have been experiencing due to the shortage of hotel space, noting some hotels don't want evacuees as guests.
The province has fielded complaints and calls from evacuees and various First Nations organizations to free up more hotel spaces, after elders and families were forced to stay in shelters and some were flown to hotels in Ontario.
"When you're in hotels, you have to follow rules in there. You've got to keep your room clean, you know, no drinking, whatever. I'm not saying everybody does that," Spence said.
"You've got to keep you kids quiet," she continued. "I understand that some families have children with autism and they need to be placed elsewhere. And we are trying to work on securing more apartments for you guys."
A Manitoba government spokesperson said last week that as of Wednesday night, there were about 7,000 evacuees in hotel rooms and about 1,200 in shelters.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Yes, cranes are supposed to spin in the wind like that
Yes, cranes are supposed to spin in the wind like that

CBC

time3 hours ago

  • CBC

Yes, cranes are supposed to spin in the wind like that

Thursday was a dark and stormy night in Ottawa, and if you looked up you may have noticed a tall construction crane spinning in the wind. At least three videos posted on social media showed a crane's boom or jib — the horizontal part — swinging dizzily as the storm closed in, unsettling some observers. But it turns out that's perfectly normal — and required. André Brisson, founder and president of Objective Engineering and an expert in construction equipment including mobile and tower cranes, gave us the lowdown. His answers have been edited for length and clarity. Why do unattended cranes sometimes spin in the wind? It can be quite disconcerting to see the tower cranes whip around in the wind, but that is actually part of the design of the crane — and for safety. When the the tower crane operator is not at the controls, they actually disconnect the tower crane from the rotation system, which are basically big gears tying things together. They allow that to freewheel so that the wind can't push the crane around, and that's what they call "weathervaning" or "free-slewing." If we didn't do that, the wind can actually rip out the the motor gears and collapse the crane because its pressure can exceed the crane's structural limitations, especially in the gusty, warm summer storms we've been getting. Can the wind really cause a crane to collapse? If the crane is rigidly tied at the top of the tower and the wind is pushing the boom around, we're actually going to twist the tower. So if that tower twists too far, it can collapse. The boom, on the other hand, is the same idea. Just like when you use a wrench, the longer the arm, the less force you need to tighten or to break a screw. That extra load amplifies on the rotation system, which we can twist the tower, or the boom could be pushed so much that that boom collapses. If we have any part of the tower crane collapsing, it's a catastrophic failure. So when should we be concerned about a spinning crane? If the construction site is active, and nine times out of 10 a tower crane is there to lift material, and if you're seeing a trolley go back and forth on the boom and it's lifting up materials, that's the natural course of the day. If you're starting to see other parts of the crane moving around when the construction site is closed or no one's up there, yeah, possibly [that's cause] to be concerned. [But] if we're seeing it freewheel and it's moving and it stops, or even it goes around like a [spinning] top, depending on the wind, that's normal. Is anyone checking to make sure these cranes are safe? Normally tower cranes are on a project site for two to three years, and on some projects it could be up to eight or nine years, depending on the size of the project. But keep in mind that these tower cranes are inspected frequently — daily, weekly, monthly, and annually — and that includes a structural inspection. So the crane might be on site for nine years, but it's being looked at and repaired and maintained to make sure the project can go forward and that the equipment is safe to use.

Tornado warning near southern Saskatchewan border ended
Tornado warning near southern Saskatchewan border ended

CTV News

time7 hours ago

  • CTV News

Tornado warning near southern Saskatchewan border ended

A thunderstorm near the Manitoba/Saskatchewan border could produce a tornado. (Environment and Climate Change Canada) Environment and Climate Change Canada has ended a tornado warning near the Saskatchewan border. It was cautioning people about a thunderstorm moving towards Manitoba. ECCC said damaging winds, baseball-sized hail, and locally intense rainfall were possible. If you see threatening weather such as funnel clouds, swirling debris, or a roaring sound, you're being asked to take shelter.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store