Norway House evacuates personal care home due to wildfire smoke, deteriorating air quality

CBC

3 days ago

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Norway House Cree Nation moved residents of a personal care home in the community south Tuesday, as smoke from nearby wildfires continues to blow in and air quality deteriorates.
More than a dozen elders who live at the Pinaow Wachi personal care home in Norway House were evacuated to a facility in Winnipeg, about 460 kilometres to the south, that's also owned by the First Nation. The elders who left the community were accompanied by their caretakers on a Canadian Armed Forces C-130 Hercules aircraft.
"There's unpredictable things happening in and around Norway House," Chief Larson Anderson told CBC News Tuesday afternoon.
"We're not in danger of fires — just it's the smoke that's really more of an issue."
Norway House isn't under evacuation order, but is under an evacuation notice, with people ordered to be ready to leave.
The care home was evacuated "to be on the safe side," said Anderson. The community has been doing voluntary evacuations since last week, allowing elders, young children and some adults to get relief from the smoke, he said.
Around 150 voluntary evacuees have been moved out of the community so far, Anderson said.
Evacuation continues for Pimicikamak residents
Norway House is also the temporary home for many residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation — also known as Cross Lake — who were given a mandatory evacuation order to leave their homes on May 28.
Some from Pimicikamak — about 70 kilometres north of Norway House — were flown out of the community at that point, but high winds and smoke grounded flights.
The remaining 6,500 residents were told to head to Norway House, even though the community was only expecting 1,000 people.
The Canadian Armed Forces said Tuesday it has evacuated more than 3,500 people from fire zones in the province, with work in the past 24 hours taking people from Pimicikamak to Winnipeg and from Pukatawagan, in northwestern Manitoba, to The Pas.
The federal government and the Canadian Armed Forces continue evacuation efforts for Pimicikamak and the community of Cross Lake, with multiple agencies participating in the response, along with community members and the local fire department, the province said in its Tuesday fire bulletin.
The out-of-control fire near Pimicikamak Cree Nation is about five kilometres away from the community and about 2,300 hectares in size, the bulletin said.
Manitoba's wildfire service is currently fighting 27 active wildfires across the province, and has seen 111 wildfires to date — well above the average of 88 for this time of year.
WATCH | Manitoba premier praises wildfire response:
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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks with CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault about the province's response to the wildfire crisis, including the call for more firefighting equipment, the need for more accommodations for evacuees and the sacrifices made by people across the province.
Samantha Folster, Cross Lake's co-ordinator for the Norway House evacuation, estimated 100 people from the community who went to Norway House have chosen to stay there. For the time being, no further planes will come to take Pimicikamak residents to Winnipeg, she said.
"We've given them the opportunity to come to the airport, we've called them, I've used social media to attract them to come," said Folster.
"Some of them stayed behind. They have a lot of close family here, so they've decided to stay in the community for whatever length that they feel they can stay," she said.
"Hopefully we don't receive an evacuation [order]."
Norway House watching fire situation
Meanwhile, the smoke in Norway House has been causing low visibility, so much so that Norway House resident Dean Robertson had trouble even seeing the trees across from his house.
"There's been some ash falling since last night a little bit, and I went to look at my vehicle — it kind of had a little bit of soot covering on it," he said.
Robertson said with the community on an evacuation notice, he's been getting essentials like clothing ready to go and has made sure to fill his car with gas.
Chief Anderson said Norway House has created large fire breaks as well, in case a blaze comes near the community. Sprinklers and water hoses have been set up on buildings too.
"It will buy us time … if the fire ever gets to that point," he said.