Manitoba urges thousands to evacuate as Canada wildfires spread
29 May 2025 10:54
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters)Manitoba declared a state of emergency and urged thousands of people in northern and eastern parts of the province to evacuate on Wednesday, as wildfires spread in Central and Western Canada.Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said at a news conference that 17,000 people needed to move quickly, including from the city of Flin Flon. Many will be put up at soccer fields and community centres in Winnipeg and other cities, and federal armed forces were arriving to help transport evacuees, he said."This is the largest evacuation in many Manitobans' living memory and this will require significant resources and cooperation from all levels of government, Kinew said in a statement.Separately, wildfires in Alberta province have prompted a temporary shutdown of some oil and gas production and forced residents of at least one small town to evacuate.Oil producer Cenovus Energy (CVE.TO) said it was scaling back nonessential workers at its Foster Creek facility in response to the wildfires in northern Alberta.Cenovus' Foster Creek operation is among several oil sands facilities operated by companies with assets in the Bonnyville-Cold Lake region.That region was affected on Wednesday by wildfires spanning 2,900 hectares near Chipewyan Lake, a small community in the northern part of the province approximately 130 km west of the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray.Cenovus said it was closely monitoring the evolving wildfire situation and the staffing measure was a precaution.Alberta government officials said on Wednesday there was no current threat to Chipewyan Lake, but residents have been placed on a one-hour evacuation notice as winds could shift.Another blaze, nearly 1,600 hectares in size, is burning out of control about 7 km north of Swan Hills, also in the province's north.
The approximately 1,200 residents of Swan Hills were ordered to evacuate on Monday evening. One oil and gas producer in that area, Aspenleaf Energy, said on Monday it had temporarily halted operations as a precaution and shut in approximately 4,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent production.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
11 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister says Israel blocking Ramallah meeting proof of 'extremism'
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government's refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the occupied West Bank showed its "extremism and rejection of peace". His statements came during a joint press conference with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain in Amman. On Saturday, Israel said it will not allow a planned meeting on Sunday in the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah to go ahead. Reporting by Reuters
Dubai Eye
18 hours ago
- Dubai Eye
At least 7 dead after bridges collapses onto passenger train in Russia
At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge collapsed onto railway tracks, derailing an approaching train in Russia's Bryansk region late on Saturday. Russia's Railways initially posted on the Telegram messaging app that the Bryansk bridge collapse was the result of an "illegal interference in the operation of transport", but the post was later removed. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram that 47 people were hospitalised. Three children were among those injured with one in serious condition, he said. The train was going from the town of Klimovo to Moscow, Russian Railways said. It collided with the collapsed bridge in the area of a federal highway in the Vygonichskyi district of the Bryansk region, Bogomaz said. The district lies some 100 km from the border with Ukraine. Hours later another bridge collapsed in Russia's Kursk region while a freight train was crossing the bridge. "Part of the train fell onto a road underneath the bridge," Alexander Khinshtein, acting governor of the region, and Russian Railways said on Telegram, posting a photo of derailed carriages on a damaged bridge over a road. He added that the locomotive caught fire, which was quickly extinguished. One of the drivers sustained leg injuries, and he and the team operating the train were taken to a local hospital, Khinshtein added. Reuters could not independently confirm whether the incidents in the neighbouring regions were related. The areas in Russia's south have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine during the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. Russia's Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that according to preliminary information, the Bryansk bridge had been blown up. Prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo, called the Bryansk collapse "sabotage." Reuters could not independently verify the Baza or Pegov's reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Since the war began in February 2022, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes and covert raids from Ukraine into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine. Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram that efforts to find and rescue victims in the Bryansk incident continued throughout the night, and that some 180 personnel were involved in the operation.
ARN News Center
19 hours ago
- ARN News Center
At least 7 dead after bridges collapses onto passenger train in Russia
At least seven people were killed and 69 injured when a highway bridge collapsed onto railway tracks, derailing an approaching train in Russia's Bryansk region late on Saturday. Russia's Railways initially posted on the Telegram messaging app that the Bryansk bridge collapse was the result of an "illegal interference in the operation of transport", but the post was later removed. Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said on Telegram that 47 people were hospitalised. Three children were among those injured with one in serious condition, he said. The train was going from the town of Klimovo to Moscow, Russian Railways said. It collided with the collapsed bridge in the area of a federal highway in the Vygonichskyi district of the Bryansk region, Bogomaz said. The district lies some 100 km from the border with Ukraine. Hours later another bridge collapsed in Russia's Kursk region while a freight train was crossing the bridge. "Part of the train fell onto a road underneath the bridge," Alexander Khinshtein, acting governor of the region, and Russian Railways said on Telegram, posting a photo of derailed carriages on a damaged bridge over a road. He added that the locomotive caught fire, which was quickly extinguished. One of the drivers sustained leg injuries, and he and the team operating the train were taken to a local hospital, Khinshtein added. Reuters could not independently confirm whether the incidents in the neighbouring regions were related. The areas in Russia's south have been subject to frequent attacks by Ukraine during the war that Russia started with its full-scale invasion more than three years ago. Russia's Baza Telegram channel, which often publishes information from sources in the security services and law enforcement, reported, without providing evidence, that according to preliminary information, the Bryansk bridge had been blown up. Prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo, called the Bryansk collapse "sabotage." Reuters could not independently verify the Baza or Pegov's reports. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine. Since the war began in February 2022, there have been continued cross-border shelling, drone strikes and covert raids from Ukraine into the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions that border Ukraine. Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram that efforts to find and rescue victims in the Bryansk incident continued throughout the night, and that some 180 personnel were involved in the operation.
