Several homes destroyed as large grass fire burns in Peguis First Nation: RCMP
Several homes have been destroyed in Peguis First Nation as a large grass fire burned in the First Nation, according to RCMP.
Officers from Fisher Branch are in the area assisting with evacuations and firefighters, with help from water bombers, are working to put the fire out, the Mounties told CBC in an email.
At least two homes were on fire, Peguis First Nation's communications director Doug Thomas told CBC News during a brief phone call Sunday afternoon.
Thomas said the fire was burning in the southern part of the First Nation.
Peguis First Nation said in a Facebook post it was opening its community hall to evacuees.
It is not known how many homes have been evacuated or how many people have been forced to leave their homes as of Sunday evening.
Peguis is located about 190 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
No injuries have been reported, the Mounties said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
23 minutes 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.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Some Manitoba communities start preparing to welcome wildfire evacuees back — but threat not gone yet
As Manitoba continues battling out-of-control wildfires that have forced thousands of people out of their homes, some communities are making plans to allow people to start coming back — but it will still take some time before that actually happens. The northwestern city of Flin Flon is working on a re-entry plan that will depend on conditions, including the state of a massive out-of-control wildfire near the community and the availability of hospital and safety services like police and fire response, Deputy Mayor Alison Dallas-Funk said in a post Tuesday. "We can't bring community back if we don't have safety services. All the safety services right now are currently being directed towards fighting fires," Dallas-Funk said in a video posted on Facebook. "So all of our fire protection, all of the RCMP and any EMS services we have — we currently don't even have a hospital right now." The fire near Flin Flon, about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, is the largest one burning in Manitoba, at roughly 308,000 hectares as of Wednesday, when there were 25 active wildfires burning in Manitoba, several of them out of control. Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine on Wednesday called it a good sign the city is starting to make plans for re-entry, but it's still "absolutely not safe all around us" for people to come back just yet. Fontaine hopes the update gives evacuees hope and reminds them that they haven't been forgotten. "They're not just, you know, languishing out there with nobody thinking about them," he said. Grocery stores, gas stations and social services are also among the things that should be ready to serve people before residents start coming back, he said. Snow Lake plans The town of Snow Lake is also looking at plans to get people back home, though there's no specific timeline there either. Municipal emergency co-ordinator Jodi Cockle said Wednesday that the community, which was evacuated because of the same massive fire that threatened Flin Flon, has now been deemed to be under no threat from that blaze. "We have to ensure the safety of the residents before I can deem to return them back to community," Cockle said. "So we'll be working closely with those agencies over the next few days here to make sure that everybody's ramped up and ready to go back to regular living here in Snow Lake." A return to community checklist provided through Manitoba's Emergency Management Organization details essentials that need to be in place before people can go home, Cockle said. The town was evacuated — forcing more than 1,000 people from their homes — largely due to heavy wildfire smoke affecting air quality and the threat of the community losing its escape routes, she said. While an update from the town on Tuesday said the fire was roughly 30 kilometres from the townsite, a small amount of rain recently helped push that fire down, giving people in Snow Lake "what we needed," Cockle said. Lynn Lake Other communities are still mainly focused on fighting fires. Near the northern town of Lynn Lake, for example, crews are working along the edge of a fire that's grown to over 71,000 hectares to eliminate hot spots and reduce risk, an update posted on the town's Facebook page said Tuesday. The fire continues to pose a threat to the community, and warmer weather forecast for near the end of the week could make fire danger in the area even worse, the update said. A mandatory evacuation order is still in place for the town. Road access into the community has been restricted and RCMP have established a manned blockade at the Black Sturgeon Falls turnoff to enforce the evacuation order. However, Manitoba Hydro crews are scheduled to be in the community this week to start replacing infrastructure that was damaged or compromised during the wildfire fight, work the update said "will support essential power restoration efforts and help prepare for eventual re-entry."
CBC
20 hours ago
- CBC
Residents hope for return as Sandpoint Beach closes
The day after council decided to close Sandpoint Beach in East Windsor, people are being told to stay out of the water. Residents in the community hope to see it come back after council reviews its plans to make the beach safer. The CBC's Jacob Barker reports.
