
Quebec airtankers head to Ontario, Saskatchewan to aid wildfire fight
Quebec's forest fire prevention agency says it is sending reinforcements to Ontario and Saskatchewan to help teams fight several forest and brush fires.
Two CL-415 firefighting aircraft and their crews will head to Dryden, Ont., while two other of the same aircraft will head to Meadow Lake, Sask.
Quebec's forest fire prevention agency, known as SOPFEU, says the teams departed Sunday from Quebec City.
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RCMP say 2 Manitobans charged with arson in connection with wildfires
The agency says the current situation in Quebec allows for resources to head to other provinces.
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In Ontario, there were six active fires burning across the province shortly before noon Sunday, including one in Haliburton, located about 170 km north of Oshawa, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources' interactive map.
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The Saskatchewan Ministry of Public Safety map showed there were 18 active wildfires burning Sunday, for a total of 142 fires since the season began on April 1.
Since the season began, the Quebec agency has responded to 59 fires in the province which have ravaged 38.7 hectares of forest. On Saturday, the agency asked people living in the western part of the province to be aware that the fire index level is high to very high in the region.

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Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Globe and Mail
B.C. evacuates provincial park as Squamish wildfire continues to grow
An out-of-control wildfire near Squamish, B.C., has nearly tripled in size to 55 hectares and forced the evacuation of the nearby Alice Lake Provincial Park. The District of Squamish said increased wind activity Wednesday afternoon led to growth along the Dryden Creek wildfire's north flank. It said in a social media post that the BC Wildfire Service and Squamish Fire Rescue recommended the park's closure and an evacuation order was issued Wednesday. The post said the fire, which prompted a local state of emergency earlier this week, is not currently threatening park facilities but it is growing toward access routes and the smoke has resulted in reduced visibility. The Squamish Nation said in a separate post that it has removed all valuable items from the Alice Lake long house as a cautionary measure. In an afternoon update online, the district said that increased visibility has allowed helicopters to begin bucketing operations to fight the fire. The BC Wildfire Service said the blaze is suspected to be human caused, which has led to a police investigation and an appeal for information from the Squamish RCMP. The Mounties said in a news release that the department was informed of smoke on the hillside at the end of Tantalus Road on Monday around 5:30 p.m. But they said it is believed to have been started around 4 p.m. that day on a bike trail, so officers are asking anyone with information about the fire to contact police. The Squamish fire is one of almost 100 wildfires burning throughout B.C., most of which are in the province's northeast. In its latest update, the BC Wildfire Service said there are currently 50 wildland firefighters working alongside Squamish Fire Rescue staff to contain the Dryden Creek blaze. It said five helicopters and four airtankers have also been deployed.


Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cranberry Portage residents to return home Saturday; Ontario out of room for Manitoba fire evacuees
A northern community evacuated due to wildfire has been deemed safe for residents to return this weekend, while Ontario has stopped accepting evacuees from Manitoba after welcoming thousands to Niagara Falls. Residents of Cranberry Portage, about 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, were told late Wednesday afternoon they can begin returning at 8 a.m. Saturday — two weeks after a mandatory evacuation order was issued — based on guidance from an incident command centre. 'They're certainly saying to us, at this time, that (Cranberry Portage evacuees) are safe to return home,' said Lori Forbes, the Rural Municipality of Kelsey's emergency co-ordinator. 'I know people are going to be very excited to go home.' She said 323 evacuees registered with her, but the total number will be higher because she doesn't have access to electronic registrations. About 438 people registered when Cranberry Portage was evacuated due to wildfire in May 2024. The Manitoba Wildfire Service said a blaze that began south of the community on May 27 was still out of control and about 4,920 hectares in size. The fire was caused by human activity. Forbes said recent rain and higher humidity levels helped crews. 'They've been able to do a little more ground work to get (fire) lines in place and stop the movement of fires,' she said. Some other evacuated communities have started preparing re-entry plans for evacuees, who are scattered across Manitoba and some locations out of province. Tataskweyak Cree Nation Chief Doreen Spence said 60 more evacuees from her community were scheduled to fly from Thompson to Hamilton Monday night, but an Indigenous Service Canada official told her a few hours before take-off that the flight was cancelled. 'They said (Ontario) is at capacity right now. They wouldn't be accepting anymore Manitobans,' Spence said about the arrangement between governments. An Ontario government spokesperson, speaking on background, said the intake of Manitoba evacuees was paused while Sandy Lake First Nation, in northwestern Ontario, was rapidly evacuated due to a fire that doubled in size within hours over the weekend. About 2,300 Manitobans are staying in Niagara Falls. The spokesperson said Ontario will continue to work closely with Manitoba and the federal government to provide available supports. With official evacuation flights to Ontario halted, some Tataskweyak residents who did not have their own accommodation in Thompson were taken by bus from that city to a shelter in Sagkeeng First Nation and hotels in Winnipeg on Wednesday. Last week, the Manitoba government confirmed the decision to send some evacuees out of province was made jointly with the federal government. The province said last week that 1,500 hotel rooms were secured in Niagara Falls, with about 800 occupied. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems.'–Brenda Frogg Spence said close to 700 Tataskweyak residents were taken to Ontario after the community began an evacuation May 29 due to an out-of-control fire nearby. About 70 to 80 essential workers, including Spence, remain in Tataskweyak, which has a population of about 2,600 and is approximately 770 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Threatened by a separate fire, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) also learned this week Ontario is no longer accepting Manitoba evacuees, said Coun. Brenda Frogg, who helped co-ordinate flights. It was her understanding that Ontario was overcapacity. About 300 Pimicikamak residents have been taken to Niagara Falls since the northern community issued a mandatory evacuation order May 28, she said. Lori Osborne, one of Pimicikamak's estimated 7,500 evacuees, stayed in Niagara Falls with her boyfriend and four children until they had to return to Winnipeg Tuesday due to a family emergency in Manitoba. 'I felt like I was not even an evacuee,' she said of the experience, which included sightseeing of the falls and visits to tourist attractions. Some evacuees from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Pukatawagan) and Marcel Colomb First Nation (Black Sturgeon) were also moved to Niagara Falls. The Canadian Red Cross had registered more than 20,500 evacuees provincewide as of Monday. The agency said more than 1,600 hotel rooms in Winnipeg were secured. Spence said some Tataskweyak evacuees in Winnipeg had to move to different hotels because of limited room availability at some locations. Spence and Frogg said it is not yet known when evacuees from Pimicikamak or Tataskweyak will be allowed home. 'We're hoping to bring them home soon, especially the ones in Ontario. They're disconnected from their families and their support systems,' Frogg, a nurse, said by phone from Pimicikamak, where she was providing nursing cover for essential workers who remain in the community. Pimicikamak and Flin Flon are among evacuated communities that have started discussing or developing phased re-entry plans. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant.'–Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence Evacuees were told it will likely be some time before it is safe to return to areas where fires still pose a danger, and essential and safety services are not yet restored. Spence said fire-damaged Manitoba Hydro infrastructure near Tataskweyak has to be repaired. The Manitoba government reported 25 active wildfires on Wednesday. Nine were out of control, including a blaze that stretched from Bird River to Bissett, in eastern Manitoba. The fire, which started May 12 and is known as EA061, covered about 218,700 hectares, including parts of Nopiming Provincial Park. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Bissett Mayor Carla Nicholson-Spence said all efforts have been taken to protect the evacuated community, which is home to about 110 people. She said Bissett residents are grateful to those who've contributed to the effort, including staff from multiple provincial departments, the local fire department and Beausejour Brokenhead Fire Department. U.S. firefighters were deployed to the Bissett area this week. Residents have provided accommodations and meals for essential workers, and helped to ensure a water plan remains operational. 'Our hopes are that these continued efforts from wildfire services will contain this fire and allow us to go home,' Nicholson-Spence wrote in an email. 'We are as prepared as we can be, and we will continue to be vigilant and ready to meet this threat as safely as we are able to do so.' Chris KitchingReporter Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris. Every piece of reporting Chris 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.


CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Sask. encouraging residents to come forward with information regarding intentionally set wildfires
An orange-coloured haze, resulting from a nearby wildfire, is seen on a helipad in La Ronge, Sask., in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, *MANDATORY CREDIT* Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) president Marlo Pritchard says investigators have determined that 80 wildfires in the province this year were started by humans, with approximately 30 of those set intentionally. Pritchard says the SPSA and police are asking for the public's assistance to help identify individuals that have intentionally set wildfires. 'Of those [intentionally set fires] we have had four in the Prince Albert area in the past number of days and so again we would ask members of the public to call your local police service or Crime Stoppers,' he said. RCMP have already laid two arson charges, including against those believed responsible for starting the Ditch02 fire in the Weyakwin area that forced multiple evacuations. Pritchard says the SPSA can confirm 290 structures have been lost to the fires, with the possibility of that number climbing to 400 once more investigations are done. The SPSA also revised its provincial fire ban on Tuesday at 5 p.m. According to Pritchard, the provincial ban now only applies to the Northern Provincial Forest up to the Churchill River. Minimal to no fire growth Favourable weather conditions including rainfall has allowed firefighters to more directly attack flames over the past few days. That is also allowing some evacuees to return home. 'We are turning a corner, we are seeing that the fire activity has been relatively stable over the past few days. There has not been any significant growth and we've also seen and been informed that there is numerous communities either preparing for or have repatriated back to their communities,' Pritchard said. According to Pritchard, Birch Portage evacuees returned home June 9 and Little Bear Lake, Moosehorn and Timber Bay evacuees are returning home on Wednesday. Meanwhile, residents of Hall Lake, Brabant Lake, Nemeiben Lake, Sucker River, Wadin Bay, English Bay, Sikachu, Clam Crossing, Lac la Ronge Indian Band, La Ronge, Air Ronge, Napatak, Eagle Point, Lamp Lake, Rabbit Creek, Potato Lake and priority one and two individuals in Stanley Mission are all expected to return home in the next day or so, according to Pritchard. 'As the repatriation efforts continue, we will work with community leaders to support those that are being supported by SPSA to safely return to their communities in the coming days,' he said. Pritchard says as of Wednesday, there is still approximately 10,000 or more people still evacuated. The SPSA says there are 23 active wildfires in Saskatchewan on Wednesday. Six are listed as not contained and two with fire crews protecting values and property. The Shoe fire remains the largest in the province at approximately 550,000 hectares, according to the SPSA. The fire is one of the six still considered not contained but the SPSA says it has not significantly grown over the past few days. Crews remain focused on finding hot spots within the fire's perimeter and continuing to be stationed on the fire's west end to protect nearby communities. The Pisew fire near La Ronge has also not significantly grown since the area received about 22 millimetres of rain over the weekend. That is allowing about 7,000 evacuees to return home in the coming days. According to the SPSA the Pisew fire is at 181,000 hectares on Wednesday. More information can be found here.