Thompson residents warned to pack essentials as possible evacuation of northern Manitoba hub looms
On Friday, the municipality issued a pre-alert notice in a statement posted to Facebook saying residents should begin packing essentials so they're ready to go if an evacuation order is called for the city, which is a hub for many services in northern Manitoba.
A Thompson personal care home is evacuating 33 residents to Flin Flon due to air quality concerns, a spokesperson for Shared Health told CBC on Friday, in what they described as a "limited movement of long-term care residents."
The move is a precautionary measure to reduce risks from smoke exposure to vulnerable people with underlying health concerns, the spokesperson said.
The province said five other residents of the Thompson hospital's psychiatric ward were also being transferred as a precaution. However, there were no plans for a full hospital evacuation as of Friday afternoon.
In a statement to CBC News on Friday, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara acknowledged it's "a worrying time for folks up north right now," but said the health-care system is "constantly assessing the wildfire situation" to make decisions that are best for patients.
The wildfire north of Thompson was 16,370 hectares in size, according to the province's most recent fire bulletin on Friday. The fire is still considered out of control.
Northwest of Thompson, an out of control fire burning near the community of Lynn Lake has grown to 80,120 hectares, the fire bulletin said.
That town's 600 residents were evacuated a week ago, shortly after they returned from a previous mass evacuation last month. This time, Lynn Lake evacuees were taken to Brandon, about 800 kilometres south of their home.
Garden Hill evacuees heading to Winnipeg
At a news conference Thursday, where Premier Wab Kinew declared a second state of emergency this wildfire season, officials said nearly 13,000 Manitobans were under evacuation orders due to wildfires.
Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, a fly-in community located about 475 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, began evacuating its more than 4,000 residents on Thursday, when about 1,000 residents were being flown out by the Canadian Armed Forces, Kinew said.
Seven flights were planned using a Hercules aircraft, as Garden Hill's airstrip is big enough to accommodate the large military plane, Kinew said.
"That really increases the amount of people who could be moved out quickly," the premier said Thursday.
The wildfire burning near Garden Hill is about 2,500 hectares in size and is out of control, the province said in its Friday fire bulletin.
The province said 500 people stayed at an emergency shelter at a soccer complex on Leila Avenue in Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Officials said the Billy Mosienko Arena on Keewatin Street would start housing evacuees again on Friday, while the RBC Convention Centre would become available over the weekend.
CBC reached out to Garden Hill leadership on Friday for an update on the fire situation but had not received a response prior to publication.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
22 minutes ago
- CBC
From Costco to clinics: New health-care centre opening in east end of St. John's this fall
A new health-care facility will open in the former Costco building in St. John's in October, offering urgent care and outpatient appointments. People may know it as the former Costco building, but "it looks nothing like that now," Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell told reporters during a tour of the site on Tuesday. Howell said the new urgent- and ambulatory-care centre at 28 Stavanger Drive is opening in phases this fall and is expected to shorten hospital wait times. The urgent care centre will treat people with non-life threatening injuries and illnesses — such as minor sprains and strains. It's meant to relieve pressure on emergency rooms, said Howell, so ERs can focus on "true emergencies." Several outpatient services are also opening at the ambulatory-care centre in October, relocating from the Health Sciences Centre and St. Clare's Mercy Hospital. These include several specialist clinics and two X-ray machines, orthopedics, audiology, and appointment scheduling and registration, said a Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services statement. More services are scheduled to move to the site in December, including physiotherapy, blood collection, occupational therapy, surgery preadmission clinic, pain clinic, ultrasound and an additional X-ray machine. MRI services are set to open in 2026. There will be an information campaign in the fall to let people know where they should go for different health issues, said Greg Browne, a vascular surgeon and the clinical lead for healthcare infrastructure. Once you're inside the building, Howell said clear signs will make it easier for people to know where their appointments are. "I think as patients we're going to really see the benefits of this once we start using it," said Dorothy Senior, a patient advisor who sits on committees for the health authority. She listed the benefits of having access to all clinics in one area, colour coding, and having comfortable places to sit. In its statement, the health authority said the hub will have free parking for patients and staff, as well as an outdoor space. A pharmacy and Jumping Bean coffee shop are set to open there next year, and there are plans underway for a daycare provider. The project is coming in on budget, said Kimberley Pike, clinical planner with Provincial Capital Planning. The province is renting the old Costco site, which hasn't been used since 2019. "Clinic appointments and ambulatory appointments really don't need to happen in an acute care hospital, with all the hustle and bustle and the stress that people go through by going into a hospital environment," said Pike. In its statement, the health authority said some outpatient services will still remain at the hospitals. Ear, nose and throat clinics, as well as rheumatology, will also stay at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital.
National Post
39 minutes ago
- National Post
Chris Selley: Let your kids outside, for God's sake, even if it's a bit smoky
Article content Article content It sure took me back. This sort of messaging only undermines the larger cause of public health. And speaking of which: 'I think for a child with underlying asthma, who must be outside, I would recommend wearing an N95 mask,' Green told the Star, somewhat paradoxically. 'But really, as much as possible, we should be keeping all children inside.' Article content We should be keeping all children inside as much as possible. In July. Even if they're not especially vulnerable to smoke. After screwing up their lives for three years during COVID-19. Article content No. No, we should not be doing that. Obviously. Article content Whether you think school closures were justified or not during the pandemic, at all or to the truly extraordinary extent Ontario took it, at this point we should be exploring every avenue to remedy the damage. And that does not mean trapping kids inside because the air quality's a bit crap. Article content That pandemic-era damage is huge. Of course it is. One of the most bizarre rhetorical phenomena of the pandemic was people arguing it wouldn't really do kids all that much harm not to go to school for a year or two. If that were true, why on earth do we spend so much money on K-12 education in the first place? Article content Article content The anecdotes from teachers and child-care workers about socially maladjusted and academically delayed kids keep piling up. So does the academic research: 'The pandemic has left its mark on their behaviour, mental health, social skills and their education,' BBC reported last month. 'Childhood experiences … tend to have an outsized effect on life trajectories because they can alter brain development, behaviour and overall wellbeing.' Article content Standardized test scores have crashed in Britain, where schools were closed for considerably shorter periods of time than in Ontario and Quebec. And we did basically bugger-all to compensate for it except graduate struggling kids anyway and send them out into the world and hope for the best. Article content Article content Meanwhile, perhaps not coincidentally, the verb 'swarming' has gained new prominence with respect to gangs of feral youths attacking innocent people — homeless people, pizza franchisees. We will never know if they reoffend, because we can't know their names. Article content Article content The most Toronto Star part of the whole affair: Alongside the article advising children to stay indoors if at all possible, the paper ran another article quoting an expert explaining that people aren't even safe from wildfire smoke inside. You should close all your windows, a University of Waterloo professor advised (because, obviously, everyone has air conditioning). You should even consider taping the windows shut, the Waterloo prof advised, because homes have 'leaks and cracks' through which wildfire-smoke particulates might invade your home. Article content That's absolutely bananas. How far should parents go? Pull their kids out of day camps or sleepover camps? Cancel all their kids' summer recreational activities, hopefully including some unstructured capering around in their neighbourhoods? I don't think parents are that dumb or hysterical. The media they consume shouldn't be either. Article content
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Nanaimo, B.C., proposes $412K iron fence to separate city hall from nearby overdose prevention site
Social Sharing The City of Nanaimo is considering building a 1.8-metre-high fence to protect its staff from what it says are "congregations" of people, violence and disorder associated with an overdose prevention site next to city hall. Staff proposing the $412,000 fence cite "intimidation and harassment" of employees, particularly those working early or late, as well as damage to staff vehicles, fires near doorways and building perimeters, human waste and a general deterioration of the site. The plans are outlined in a staff report that says a zoning variance will also be needed to build the "robust decorative, wrought iron" fence 60 centimetres taller than the permitted 1.2 metres. The report was written in advance of a council committee meeting on Wednesday to approve the project and funding. Mayor Leonard Krog said in an interview Monday that the municipality had a legal obligation to protect its staff and property, and the final costs may be less or more than the recommended budget. "We can't fence off everybody's private property," he said. "We can't control every street, but we do have a duty to our employees, which is legal and present and very clear. This report represents the views of our staff, their feelings, and more importantly and sadly, their fears and the experience that they have had in the last few years, as we've seen the situation in our streets become the challenge that it is." 'Highly vulnerable and marginalized population' City hall and its service and resource centre, or SARC, are near the overdose prevention site funded by Island Health and operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association. It was relocated to Albert Street, next to city hall, in December 2022. "Since this relocation, the city has experienced a significant increase in disorder around city hall and SARC," the report says. "Disorderly behaviour is common both during and outside the facility's hours of operation. When closed, individuals frequently congregate in the parking lots, gardens, and shaded areas around city hall and SARC, leading to considerable safety and operational challenges." The report says there are "congregations of 20 to 30+ individuals during early morning and evening hours." The document recommending the fence, which council has yet to approve, says the area is a "frequent location for congregations, loitering, violence, and property related concerns, including damage to and theft from staff vehicles, fires, litter, vandalism, and safety risks," especially for staff accessing the resource centre. It says the overdose prevention site serves a "highly vulnerable and marginalized population" with many living in extreme poverty, with limited access to health care and support services. It also notes that "installing fencing around a civic facility may be perceived by some members of the public as a symbol of exclusion, especially in the context of visible homelessness and public disorder in surrounding areas." Public safety group A public safety group said the plans should be a "wake-up call" for provincial and federal leaders to protect "everyday citizens from those causing mayhem, havoc and violence" on the streets of downtown. Kevan Shaw, vice-president of the Nanaimo Area Public Safety Association, said it was "horrible, disgusting and sad" that city employees felt scared to come to work, adding that many downtown residents and business owners felt the same. Krog said the situation around city hall was not as "awful" as the association suggested, but added that he is "very conscious" of the problems facing downtown. He said he agreed that higher levels of government should act "not only swiftly, but with far more substance than they have to date." Krog said he was "sympathetic" to the frustrations of the association, adding that the city has hired 12 new community safety officers and 15 new RCMP officers in the past five years, with more coming in this year's budget. He said that while the cost of the fencing may be "offensive" to some, it is unfair to accuse the municipality of leaving residents and business to fend for themselves. "When you're talking about the amount of area that has to be covered with fencing, I don't think you'll find the cost is extraordinary in comparison to fencing any other area with a fence that would actually be secure when you're allowing for the kind of gating that's necessary."
