Winnipeg firefighters battle large blaze in Transcona
Firefighters battle a large fire on Gunn Road in Winnipeg's Transcona neighbourhood on May 12, 2025. (Jamie Dowsett/CTV News Winnipeg)
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Globe and Mail
30 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Saskatchewan RCMP charge two in wildfires while Manitoba fires force 1,000 more to evacuate
Prairie wildfires developed on two fronts Friday as 1,000 more Manitoba residents were forced to flee their homes, while Saskatchewan's RCMP laid charges against alleged fire-starters. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told a news conference that two people have been charged with setting wildfires. He said one of them was charged in relation to a fire around La Ronge, which has forced 7,000 people to flee their homes. 'The RCMP have informed us that they have now charged a couple of individuals,' Moe said. RCMP did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Wildfire smoke is affecting air quality across the country. Here's what you need to know Saskatchewan has 24 active wildfires that have forced between 10,000 and 15,000 people from their homes. 'Many if not virtually all of the fires that we're dealing with in Saskatchewan, although not intentionally, are human caused. Some of those have been intentionally human caused,' Moe said. The province, along with Manitoba, is under a state of emergency, making it easier for different levels of government to co-ordinate a response. Manitoba has received help from the military to evacuate residents, mainly in remote First Nations. Moe has faced calls from the Opposition NDP to follow suit. The premier said while his government is in daily contact with federal officials, provincial emergency crews have so far been able to get evacuees out. He said the Canadian Red Cross is also working to set up shelters for evacuees in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert. In Manitoba, the town of Snow Lake, near Flin Flon, issued a mandatory evacuation order for its residents due to a large wildfire threatening the area. 'You must leave because of the danger to your health and safety,' reads a notice on the town's Facebook page. That fire, which has grown to more than 3,000 square kilometres, has already forced out all 5,000 residents of the city of Flin Flon and about a thousand more in surrounding cottages and homes. When the Snow Lake evacuees are added in, Manitoba has about 19,000 out of their homes. There are 27 total fires in the province, eight of them out of control. Earlier Friday, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said evacuees have found a place to stay with friends or family, in hotels or in congregate shelters. He said getting those evacuees into private accommodations is tricky because many hotel rooms are being reserved for people with 'intense' medical issues. 'We just have to do a balancing act,' Kinew said. 'At this point, the big-picture challenge around rooms has largely been addressed. 'It's now just about the daily balancing act of triaging people coming in and people who are already in shelters and matching them up with rooms.' There are shelters in Winnipeg, Thompson and Brandon. The City of Flin Flon, on social media, said that no structures have been lost in the city or in nearby Creighton, Sask. 'Winds in the area are now blowing from the south, resulting in heavy smoke and fire moving towards the south side of Flin Flon,' the city said in an update Friday. The city added that fire protection, including sprinklers, is set up and firefighters would work to protect property. Provincial fire officials said evacuations have been completed at First Nations at Pukatawagan and Cross Lake. In northern Alberta, approximately 1,300 residents of the town of Swan Hills were allowed to return to their homes Thursday, about a week after fleeing from a wildfire. But about 340 kilometres west in the County of Grande Prairie, people in the Municipal District of Opportunity were ordered out.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Innisfil rec complex set to reopen after May fire
The Innisfil Recreational Complex (IRC), which was severely damaged by fire in May, is finally reopening following weeks of cleanup, restoration, and safety checks. Fire crews were called to the Yonge Street facility for thick, black smoke billowing from the roof. The building was evacuated and no injuries were reported. After extensive work over the last few weeks, the IRC is officially open to the public on Monday; this includes ice rentals and registered drop-in ice programs. On June 11, the conditioning floor, studio, indoor track, change rooms, and multi-purpose room for Stay'n Play will become accessible to members. The gymnasium is scheduled to reopen in nearly a month, on July 7, following the completion of floor repairs and repainting. The town says the pool will remain closed until repairs can be made to critical pool operating equipment. This marks an important milestone in the facility's recovery process, and the town says they would like to thank the community for its continued patience and support.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Relatives of lost fishers say lives at risk without mandatory vessel stability checks
Social Sharing Relatives of Nova Scotia fishers who died in a 2020 sinking say it's disheartening that little progress has been made on a key safety recommendation requiring assessments of vessel stability. Lori Cogswell-Phillips, the mother of fisher Aaron Cogswell, said in an interview Friday the federal government and the fishing industry are putting crews at risk by not acting more quickly on the recommendation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada. "They're just playing with peoples' lives," she said. Since a 2015 capsizing of a fishing vessel killed three people, the safety board has been calling for Transport Canada to mandate stability assessments, which would permit crews to load catch and gear in a way that helps prevent vessels from flipping over. Cogswell-Phillips said having naval architects test fishing boat stability is crucial because it would mean fishers have a more dependable workplace in one of the country's most hazardous jobs. "There's already so many things that can go wrong in terms of rough weather when fishing, at least [with a stability test] you know you're in a dependable vessel that's going to ... get you through what you have to get through," she said. In its 2023 report on the sinking of the Chief William Saulis in the Bay of Fundy — which resulted in the deaths of Cogswell and five other fishers — the safety agency concluded the boat had not undergone a stability test after it was modified. Michelle Thibault, whose ex-husband, Daniel Forbes, died in the sinking, said in an interview Friday that it's hard to keep revisiting the tragedy without seeing recommended reforms completed. "You want to give up because it's really not a fight that I can win. It's between the government and the fishermen, and the fishermen don't want to pay for it [stability assessments] and neither does the government," she said. "What it really comes down to is money. How many people need to die before somebody's going to put the money out to pay for this?" 'Underlying risk ... for a large portion of the fishing fleet' The board noted this week in its annual assessment of recommendations that Transport Canada's response to the decade-old stability recommendation remains "unsatisfactory." It said it is making efforts to "expand awareness" of vessel stability in the fishing industry but added that a voluntary approach won't be sufficient. "The safety board ... continues to strongly believe that until Transport Canada ensures that all small fishing vessels undergo a stability assessment appropriate to their size ... the underlying risk will remain for a large portion of the fishing fleet," the agency said. In an interview Friday, board chair Yoan Marier noted that there are other recommendations aimed at promoting boat stability that remain incomplete. The safety board would like Transport Canada to bring in "additional oversight over [fishing vessel] modifications." "At this point, we have a feeling that we are starting to repeat ourselves. We have had a number of accidents that we've investigated in the past few years ... and they're all significant accidents where [vessel] stability was a factor," he said. "We'd like the Transport Department to put additional efforts into resolving this safety deficiency." The Chief William Saulis should have been tested for stability after its owners added a heavy, A-frame structure for scallop dragging, a protective plate to the boat's stern, and covers to close drainage holes, the safety board said in its 2023 report. Chief William Saulis was returning home On Dec. 15, 2020, the modified vessel capsized in the Bay of Fundy during a gale as it returned to its home port in Digby, N.S. In its report, the board made clear that it had long urged a stricter law on stability assessments and that Transport Canada had not complied. Kathy Fox, chair of the board at the time, said during the report's release that a stability assessment and guidelines prepared by a naval architect are "the only way the crew on these vessels will know the safe operating limits." Crew on the Chief William Saulis followed the industry practice of heavily loading the vessel with catch during the return crossing to the wharf in Digby. Due to the rough weather, the crew had left about half the scallops on the deck with the shells still on, which allowed them to slide about, the report said. About 2,700 kilograms of scallops were stacked almost two-metres high on the boat's deck, likely contributing to the boat's instability and potentially blocking its ability to drain water.
