Latest news with #ConnectingWinnipeg
Global News
7 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
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.'
