'We're Getting Desperate': Chinook Helicopters En Route as 2,000 Stranded by Manitoba Wildfire
Two Canadian Forces Chinook helicopters were on their way to the Pukatawagan Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba Saturday morning, where about 2,000 people were stranded with a wildfire just a kilometre away.
The community, also known as the Mathias Colomb First Nation, declared an emergency after the airport was closed by a power outage and smoke, while rail lines were blocked by the flames. Located about 700 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, Pukatawagan has no road access, and navigation on nearby waterways is not considered safe.
Chinooks have a capacity of 35 to 55 passengers plus crew. First responders previously had access to smaller helicopters that were evacuating people six to 13 at a time.
"We're getting desperate now," Chief Gordie Bear told CBC News Thursday. "It's getting rougher. We're going to be heading for the lake... shortly if nothing turns out, if nothing puts the flame out."
"We need more resources. We need to move them immediately," said band councillor Kelly Linklater. "The community is in a panic."
"I don't even like the words 'to be patient,'" added councillor Connie Constant. "We can't be patient. We need action. We need action now."
Constant was responding to Premier Wab Kinew's calls for calm, during a media briefing Friday where he tried to respond to criticisms that evacuations in First Nations communities had been slow and poorly planned. "With transportation, the Canadian Armed Forces is in the business of meticulous planning before they deploy aircraft or before they deploy their troops," Kinew said. "I understand how Manitobans might look at a given situation and have questions. But I'm here to reassure you and tell you that you have the best people leading the response."
Kinew said the local hospital in The Pas was under a code orange, meaning it was preparing for a mass casualty or disaster event, CBC reports.
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On Saturday morning, Manitoba's wildfire map listed the fire near Pukatawagan, designated WE025, at 9,785 hectares and out of control. The site identified 106 active fires across the province totalling 416,340 hectares.
On Thursday, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Kyra Wilson had decried "delays in response times, delays in supports," warning that "lives are being threatened by wildfires, yet we have to sit back and we have to wait. How is that fair?" On Friday, she said the situation was becoming dire, with communities kept in the dark on what's to be done.
"Nobody is communicating with us. Nobody is communicating with our leadership," she told a news conference in Winnipeg, adding that communities were getting only vague reassurances when they asked for firefighting equipment, including water pumps and hoses.
"We have communities that have no electricity," she said. "They have no water. They're running out of fuel, running out food."
Elsewhere, the chief of Cross Lake (Pimicikamak) Cree Nation credited Kinew with getting federal support for air evacuations, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) reports. "We have been calling on government of Canada to send the Canadian armed forces to help us. But they told me they had to wait for the province to exhaust their resources," Chief David Monias said on social media. "Thanks to Premier Wab Kinew, he called the Prime Minister and they will get the Canadian armed forces to help us."
At his media conference Friday, Kinew said Manitoba has never before seen a moment where large wildfires were simultaneously burning in every part of the province. He called the crisis a "serious inflection point", with about 17,000 people evacuated from their homes so far.
On Friday, Climate Central reported that inflection point was brought by an early-season heat wave made at least five times more likely by climate change. Temperatures have exceeded seasonal averages by 12.2 to 13.5C in Manitoba and by 6.6 to 11.4C in Saskatchewan, the U.S.-based analysts said, and both provinces are facing drought conditions ranging from Abnormally Dry to Moderate Drought.
"This kind of heat would be incredibly unlikely without climate change," Climate Central Vice President of Science Dr. Kristina Dahl said in a release. "These conditions, which set the stage for dangerous wildfires, will only become more frequent and more severe if we continue burning fossil fuels."
"Climate change-driven heat dries out vegetation and sets the stage for wildfires," added wildfire specialist Kaitlyn Trudeau, the organization's senior research associate for climate science. "Combine that with persistent drought and a locked-in high-pressure system, and you have a perfect storm."
Kinew said as the fires grow, thousands more evacuees can be expected and that communities like Winnipeg, Thompson, and The Pas have already stepped up to help provide food and shelter.
He said he spoke with some evacuees in Winnipeg.
"(It's) very scary, very tiring, long days for people who've been on the road and in the air to find their way to safety," he said.
Kinew said more outside help has arrived, including 125 firefighters from the United States. Winnipeg has opened up public buildings for evacuees as it deals with hotels already crammed with other fire refugees, vacationers, businesspeople, and conventiongoers. Manitoba declared a province-wide state of emergency Wednesday to trigger a coordinated response across levels of government.
In northern Manitoba, more people were leaving their homes Saturday as wildfires continued to threaten communities, The Canadian Press reports.
The roughly 600 residents of Cranberry Portage were placed under a mandatory evacuation order after fires knocked out power to the community-a situation expected to last for days.
An evacuation of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, which started earlier this week, is ongoing and officials were expecting five flights to leave for Winnipeg Saturday.
One of the major areas of concern is Flin Flon, a city of some 5,000 residents that has already been evacuated.
A fire is burning very close to town and officials are worried a shift in the wind could bring flames right into the community. The forecast for the region does not call for rain in the coming days.
Earlier Friday, Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said fierce winds were threatening to breach city limits and begin burning structures in the city of 5,000, located 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, CP writes.
"Unless we get one heck of a boost, (the fire) is projected to take chunks out of our town and surrounding areas," Fontaine said in an interview. "It's looking very ugly right now.
"We're begging for air support (to help douse the fire). It's really crucial."
Beyond Manitoba, thousands have been affected by wildfires in Saskatchewan and Alberta, with 1,300 people in the community of Swan Hills northwest of Edmonton already forced from their homes, as have the 900 residents of Chateh in the northwestern corner of the province. Firefighters battling a blaze near Chipewyan Lake, Alberta, lost radio contact late Thursday and were forced to take shelter at the local fire hall and school.
Major segments of this story were first published by The Canadian Press.
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