‘Catastrophic': Manitoba wildfire evacuees dealing with devastation

CTV News22-05-2025

Wildfire evacuees from the Wendigo Beach area are dealing with the aftermath of the destructive fires.
Wildfire evacuees from the Wendigo Beach area are dealing with the aftermath of the destructive fires.
Manitoba evacuees from the hard-hit Wendigo Beach area are dealing with the heartbreaking aftermath of the wildfires.
'When I saw the devastation of the burnout, I was prepared but I was never prepared,' said Wendigo Road property owner Brad Wood.
'It is way more catastrophic than I could have imagined.'
Wendigo Road fire
The aftermath of the fire on Wendigo Road on May 21, 2025. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV news)
The community, which is northeast of Lac du Bonnet, has been left unrecognizable after a wildfire ravaged the area.
Evacuees returned to find their neighbourhood turned to a blackened wasteland, with several homes and cottages lost to the fire.
'I feel like Wendigo Road is part of my soul,' said property owner Liane Ross-Martin.
'The water, the people, the neighbours are not just neighbours but family.'
Wendigo Road wildfire
Destruction left behind by a wildfire on Wendigo Road. (Joseph Bernacki/CTV News)
Community members are now calling for better planning and notification systems, adding that some people didn't know they were supposed to evacuate until neighbours told them of the situation.
'I think the province, maybe, with hopefully groups like ourselves coming forward now will sit and listen to us and we'll be able to talk about safety items, come up with evacuation plans, work with municipal levels,' Wood said.
He added those affected should have a seat at the table to discuss how things can be better going forward and to improve wildfire safety in the province.
-With files from CTV's Joseph Bernacki.

Hashtags

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Fire at Yellowknife apartment that displaced public housing tenants caused by smoking

CBC

an hour ago

Fire at Yellowknife apartment that displaced public housing tenants caused by smoking

Social Sharing Improper disposal of smoking materials was found to be the cause of a fire that displaced tenants of public housing from a Yellowknife apartment building in March. Saxon Chung, a spokesperson for the City of Yellowknife, wrote in an email that an investigation by the city's fire department into the Sunridge Place apartments fire determined it was accidental. The city said after the incident in March that the fire was contained to a single unit on the first floor of the three-storey building and that no injuries were reported. Sunridge appears to still be closed, with the windows at the bottom of the building boarded up and a note on the door saying the building's owner, Northview, is working with contractors to ensure the building is "safe and restored in a timely manner." The note says that Northview changed the locks and that anyone needing to access the building could call either their public housing organization or Northview itself. A large vacuum truck was outside the building along with a large dumpster on Tuesday. Multiple units in the building were used for subsidized housing, and the organizations that ran them have been making alternate plans for their tenants. Housing First, a program run by the Yellowknife Women's Society, leased five Sunridge units, three of which had tenants. Hovannes Nazaryan, the team lead for Housing First, said the organization received three replacement units from Northview and has moved tenants to those. "The last time I was there [at Sunridge], we cleaned all of our units out, we moved all the furniture that was salvageable, and basically everything else went to the dump," he said. Shortly after the fire, before the replacement units were ready, Housing First moved its tenants into hotels for acccommodation. He said they're still waiting for two more units, one for emergencies and another to accommodate additional tenants. Nazaryan said he's not sure when, or even if, those tenants will move back into Sunridge when it reopens. Bob Bies is the CEO of the Yellowknife Housing Authority, which had five units at Sunridge. The Yellowknife Housing Authority runs the operation of public housing units that are leased by Housing N.W.T., the territory's housing agency. Bies said they have no plan to return to the building, and they've set tenants up in temporary accommodations with the plan to move them to Aspen Apartments when construction on it is complete. Julie Carter was a former tenant of Sunridge through the Yellowknife Housing Authority. She was planning to move out the day after the fire forced the evacuation. Carter said she was put up in a hotel the first night she was displaced and then was expected to move into her new apartment. But she didn't have access to any of her clothes, food, or other necessities. "I have a completely empty apartment, I have absolutely no funds. How am I supposed to feed myself, feed my dogs, change my clothes?" she said. Carter said she convinced the Yellowknife Housing Authority to put her up in a hotel and that it took weeks before she was allowed to enter her old unit to gather what was salvageable. When the Sunridge building will reopen is unclear. Each housing organization said they were unsure and redirected the question to Northview. Northview did not respond to multiple requests for an update by email, phone and in person.