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Global News
5 days ago
- Climate
- Global News
‘They're in turmoil': Northern Manitoba leaders watching wildfires
The mayor of Flin Flon says the evacuation of his community feels like a family being ripped apart, but he hopes everyone will be back together again once the threat of wildfires is safely past. George Fontaine told 680 CJOB's Connecting Winnipeg that the situation facing the northern Manitoba city remains volatile but said, to his knowledge, no structures in Flin Flon have been destroyed by the blaze. Fontaine said he feels for the 5,000 residents who have been evacuated, as well as those in the surrounding communities, including Cranberry Portage, Man., and Creighton, Sask. 'They're not necessarily residents of Flin Flon, but they are Flin Flon society members. We all live together, we belong to the same organizations, the same churches, the same sports clubs, the arts communities,' he said. 'All those things are intermingled — they're all one group of people, and right now they're in turmoil.' Story continues below advertisement Fontaine learned Monday that a handful of officials will be allowed back into the city to support firefighters and get on-the-ground information about the ongoing crisis. While it's been difficult to get much in the way of updates so far, he said he understands that people on the front lines of the wildfire fight have a lot on their hands right now. 'People are trying, I'm sure, on their end … I'm not getting reports because they're too darn busy doing what they need to do to talk to me,' he said. 'What we're looking at right now is a situation where we just keep hoping.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Fontaine said he's thankful to the City of Winnipeg, more than 750 kilometres away, as well as other Manitoba communities, for opening spaces to support Flin Flon's evacuees. 1:35 Wildfire evacuees find support in Manitoba, Ontario While Flin Flon, so far, hasn't seen any damage to buildings within city limits, the town of Lynn Lake hasn't been quite so lucky. Story continues below advertisement Lynn Lake Mayor Brandon Dulewich told Global Winnipeg that a nearby wildfire did enter the town, although the vast majority of its 600 residents — aside from a few town officials and fire crews — had already been evacuated. 'Right in town we've lost four buildings. Two fairly large apartment complexes and two residential homes. There's some minor injuries of the firefighters,' he said. Dulewich said at one point Lynn Lake's hospital was threatened, but fire crews were able to hold back the flames. Fire departments from Morris and Brandon are on the ground to help combat the blaze, a situation the mayor described as touch and go. 'It's tough. The winds we've been seeing are unprecedented for our area,' Dulewich said. 'We're so heavily wooded up here that we don't typically get the 80-kilometre, 90-kilometre winds. We're standing there fighting fires and shingles are blowing off roofs — that's weather we don't see up here typically.' View image in full screen A wildfire burns in the Manitoba town of Lynn Lake. Submitted / Brandon Dulewich And while wildfire evacuees are spread across the province in hotels or other facilities awaiting the all-clear to return home, their pets are also getting a safe haven, thanks to the Winnipeg Humane Society, which has set up a temporary shelter at the St. Norbert Community Centre. Story continues below advertisement The humane society's Carly Peters told 680 CJOB's The Start there's currently space for about 60 animals. Pets will be housed in their own kennels, be fed and walked daily, and families will be able to visit at designated times. We will continue to work with the Red Cross on increasing capacity as needed,' Peters said. 'There's always ways to pivot and find extra space and hopefully we can support as many animals as we can.'
Global News
15-05-2025
- General
- Global News
Wildfire evacuee says fleeing Lac du Bonnet blaze an emotional ordeal
An evacuee from the Lac du Bonnet area says it's been an emotional time dealing with the impact of the wildfire that has engulfed the area, especially with Wednesday's news that two people were killed in the blaze. Ron Burley, one of thousands who had to flee as wildfires continue to grip Manitoba, told 680 CJOB's The Start that his cottage is at the end of Wendigo Road at Grausdin Point, where there's only one road in and one road out. While driving away to escape the wildfire, the choice to make a turn partway through may have saved his life, Burley said. Story continues below advertisement 'We thought we were one of the last ones out … I didn't think we could continue to Wendigo toward Highway 313, so we made the decision to turn left and head towards Lee River Road, or head east,' he said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'The bodies were what was ahead, for sure — the two bodies they found.' Burley said the last he heard, his home was still there, but he's nervous about what he might find when it's safe to go back. One of his neighbours, he said, had a particularly harrowing experience trying to reach safety. The man, a senior, was at home packing, when the situation became untenable and driving away from the area was no longer an option. 'Once I got in the clear, I got a call from one of my neighbours saying she didn't know that what was going on was as bad as it was,' Burley said. '(The man) was behind us still, and I just cut her off and said … you need to call him and tell him not to drive out. He needs to get into the kayak or swim to the golf course. He won't make it out. 'She got a hold of him pretty quick — he pulled his kayak out, (at) 78 years old, into the water and kayaked across the lake to the golf course.' Story continues below advertisement Burley said the sobering experience has given him more appreciation for the work of emergency personnel who have spent long hours battling the blaze and helping survivors to safety. 'You always hear they're called heroes … it's a total understatement to me,' he said. 'Standing in that, fighting for strangers' homes, it's unreal. It's two days later and still emotional. You think, 'It's just stuff'… but then you hear what we found out yesterday (about the two deaths). 'It just brings everything to a different magnitude of what we all went through.'
Global News
14-05-2025
- Climate
- Global News
‘Property can be replaced, lives can't': Officials urge safety amid Manitoba wildfires
With two dozen wildfires burning throughout Manitoba, municipal officials in one heavily impacted community say the situation continues to change rapidly — sometimes by the hour. Manitoba RCMP have sent 12 officers to the Lac du Bonnet area to help residents evacuate and to support local officials. The municipality's reeve, Loren Schinkel, says there's been significant property loss in some parts of the RM of Lac du Bonnet, but it's too early to say just how much has been destroyed. Schinkel told 680 CJOB's The Start that water bombers, a helicopter and heavy equipment are all being used to battle the blaze. 'We've extended the evacuation order into the Pinawa Channel area,' he said. 'I would estimate there's 800 to 1,000 people who have been displaced from their homes because of that.' Story continues below advertisement A drop in temperature is in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, and Schinkel said he's hopeful the colder temperatures — along with a shift in the wind — will help with the fight against the flames. The reeve said he feels for residents who have lost property to the wildfire, but is urging his constituents to abide by evacuation orders and other restrictions, for their own safety. 'I know there's residents that are still in that (affected) area, that refuse to leave and spent the night fighting alongside everybody there, but if you've been told to leave, leave your residence,' he said. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I know it's difficult, but at the end of the day, property can be replaced. Lives can't be.' 1:28 'A very big hit': Evacuations continue in Manitoba communities as wildfires spread Cottage owners in eastern Manitoba near the Ontario border are also hoping the weather — including some incoming rain in the forecast — will have an impact. Story continues below advertisement A fire in Ingolf, Ont., near the Manitoba boundary, has closed part of Whiteshell Provincial Park, and cottagers are in the process of evacuations, which began Tuesday. Ken Pickering with the Whiteshell Cottagers Association told 680 CJOB that attempts to put an end to the blaze continued overnight, but many communities in the region have already been forced to evacuate. Evacuation orders were issued for parts of Caddy Lake, West Hawk Lake, Big Whiteshell, Point du Bois and other areas. 'I'm hoping that cooler temperatures and possibly the changes in direction of wind have maybe helped curb some of that fire, and maybe the weather's helping out there,' Pickering said. 'So fingers crossed.' An Ontario government spokesperson said Tuesday that structures have been lost on the Ontario side as well, but couldn't give an exact number. 1:28 'Would have been devastating': Fire at Oak Hammock Marsh narrowly misses new building A wildfire evacuee from Nopiming Provincial Park says he's thankful to be safe but hopes his business will still be there when he can return. Story continues below advertisement John Toutant owns Big Woods Wilderness Outfitters at Nopiming Lodge and was one of hundreds who were ordered out yesterday. He said the smoke and heat were intense — and since there's been no rain in the area since the snow melted, so the region was like a tinderbox waiting to ignite. 'You're in your vehicle with the air conditioning on, because it was so hot, and you're trying to keep the smoke out of your car,' he said. 'There'd be flames on both sides of your vehicle, just in the ditch and right across the ditch from you… trees on fire 30-40 feet up, the ground burning, there were areas where we literally slowed down to a crawl because you couldn't see the vehicle in front of you.'
Global News
12-05-2025
- Climate
- Global News
‘Would have been devastating': Fire at Oak Hammock Marsh narrowly misses new building
A stray bolt of lightning could have caused disastrous consequences at a Manitoba wetland and wildlife management area over the weekend. Oak Hammock Marsh communications director Jacques Bourgeois told 680 CJOB's Connecting Winnipeg that the fire, which came close to consuming a new building, was spotted by birdwatchers on a trail at the sprawling marsh. 'We got lots of calls last night — there were people doing some birdwatching on the trails, and they smelled the smoke and saw large flames coming from the area around the building, so they called the fire truck,' he said. 'It was a lot closer than I thought — when I came this morning, it was about 300 metres from a building that we were just about to open in two weeks, so it would have been devastating.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Bourgeois said the building survived the blaze unscathed and that crews were on scene overnight battling the flames, but the situation is now under control. Story continues below advertisement For safety's sake, however, Oak Hammock Marsh is trying to crack down on anything that could spark another fire, given current dry conditions, as the area remains at risk for wildfires. 'We have cancelled all of the programs that require fire, for example, bannock baking,' he said. 'We're trying to encourage visitors not to smoke on the trail, because it's like a tinderbox right now…. We want to make sure nothing happens to the marsh.'
Global News
06-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
‘Stretching their dollars': New study says Canadians struggle with food prices
A new national study says that while Canadians are buying the same amount of food as they did last fall, they're trying to spend less — and anxiety around food affordability has surged nationwide. The study, the Spring 2025 Canadian Food Sentiment Index, is an initiative of Dalhousie University's agri-food analytics lab, and is intended as a snapshot of people's attitudes toward food prices and grocery shopping behaviours. According to the survey of 2,994 Canadians, stress around affordability has ballooned to 28.5 per cent — almost 10 percentage points higher than the previous edition of the study in fall of last year. Food professor Sylvain Charlebois told 680 CJOB's The Start that people are shopping around more to get deals. 'People are looking at different stores and they are looking at buying bulk way more than before, stretching their dollars as much as possible,' he said. Story continues below advertisement Some sections of the grocery store that are feeling the pinch, he said, are those that offer fresh food — something many Canadians might be eschewing to save money. 'That's the one thing that concerns us — if you are spending less, you may be making some nutritional compromises, and that's certainly not a good thing, for sure.' The spring study has also shown that Canadian shoppers — in particular younger Canadians — are choosing to buy more local products in the wake of tariffs and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'People are starting to see local as a priority now,' Charlebois said. 'Because of what's going on with tariffs and Donald Trump, I think people are walking into the grocery store being concerned about America and of course the pressure that Canada is under right now.' View image in full screen Munther Zeid, the owner of the 'Food Fare' grocery store chain in Winnipeg. Michael Draven / Global News Munther Zeid, owner of Winnipeg's Food Fare grocery chain, says the shift to local products is something he's seeing firsthand. Story continues below advertisement 'The American products are still selling — not as quickly, but they're still selling…but the 'shop local', 'buy local' (trend) is definitely on the rise,' he said. Locally-produced grocery items like Harvest Bakery bread and Santorini yogurt, said Zeid, are flying off shelves. However, he says he's also noticing price increases for many Canadian goods, which could affect shoppers' long-term buying habits. 'The one bad thing we've noticed is a lot of the Canadian products are starting to go up in price by 10 cents here, 20 cents there. 'It's a minimal increase but it seems to be going up a little bit.' Vince Barletta of Harvest Manitoba told The Start it's unsurprising people are looking to save their dollars. He's seen the effects of food insecurity on a daily basis at the food bank. 'For, really, tens of thousands of Manitoba families, their incomes have not kept pace, have not kept up, and they're making difficult choices,' Barletta said. 'Sadly, one of those difficult choices is what goes on the kitchen table, and that's resulting in Manitoba's continued record-high demand for food banks.' Fresh food, he said, remains in high demand, as those items take the biggest bite out of people's wallets. To help meet the demand, Manitoba Egg Farmers has doubled its donation of fresh eggs to the food bank. Story continues below advertisement ''It really starts with our prodcuers, our agri-food community. We're so fortunate here in Manitoba to have that base of support from our agricultural producers. 'Whether that's eggs, whether that's meat, vegetables, fruit, those are some of the big costs, so when we can get eggs into people's food bank packages for the month, it's one of the more popular items that we distribute.'
