Flin Flon wildfire situation 'a timebomb' but so far no structures lost, mayor says

CBC

2 days ago

The wildfire gnawing at the edge of Flin Flon is being fought by some 200 firefighters but the battle is really in the hands of Mother Nature, says the mayor.
"Generally, it depends which way the winds blow and how hard they blow and what direction they're going to come from. It's just a fluid situation," George Fontaine told Heather Hiscox on CBC Morning Live on Monday.
"I've been expecting to hear catastrophic news and so the fact that I've not heard that has really made me feel a whole lot better. But we're still in the same situation, it's a time bomb."
The vast majority of the city of about 5,000 in northwestern Manitoba was cleared out on Wednesday, with the remaining few — members of city council and some civic employees — leaving Thursday.
Fontaine, who's staying at his son's home in Winnipeg, said the last update he received was Sunday night and so far no structures within the city have been impacted.
"I'm hoping that it goes in a positive direction and we continue to do what we do. Everybody's doing everything they can," he said.
"It's really at the mercy of Mother Nature right now. Anything could happen."
Late Sunday afternoon, deputy Mayor Allison Dallas-Funk posted an update on the City of Flin Flon's Facebook page, saying the winds had picked up to such an extreme degree that crew lost the 12 hours of progress they had made trying to push the fire back.
However, the forecast for Monday calls for more favourable weather — cooler temperatures and some rain.
It was 25 C on Sunday with wind gusts over 50 km/h. A high of 19 C is expected Monday with a few showers through the morning and into the afternoon. Winds, though, are still expected to be 30-50 km/h before easing up in the evening.
In addition to the 200 firefighters, the Flin Flon response includes two heavy helitankers that can carry massive bags of water, three smaller helicopter buckets, three water bombers, and 19 pumper trucks, Fontaine said.
"We have everything that can be thrown at it that's available. Provincially, they are stretched so thin," he said.
As of Sunday (the most recent update from the province), there were 25 active wildfires in Manitoba. There have been a total of 106 already this season, far above the province's 20-year annual average of 84 at this time of year.
More than 17,000 people are being evacuated from northern, western and eastern regions of the province.
The Manitoba FireView map includes locations, sizes and other information about the wildfires.