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CTV News
2 days ago
- General
- CTV News
‘Heartbreaking': Pets left behind as Manitobans flee wildfires
Melanie Chudyk of Manitoba Animal Alliance shares how wildfire evacuations are affecting pets and how you can help. Many of Manitoba's wildfire evacuees were forced to leave their animals behind due to limited space on evacuation planes. Melanie Chudyk with the Manitoba Animal Alliance said the majority of pets remain in the evacuated communities and are being cared for by first responders. She added her organization has sent supplies to these communities, with the goal of rescuing the animals in need of care and providing support to pet owners. 'The community of Cross Lake, for example, is a community of about 9,000 people,' she said. 'Right now, there's a couple hundred first responders still in the community who are taking care of thousands of animals.' Chudyk described the situation as 'heartbreaking,' but said she understands that people were faced with extremely difficult decisions. 'I understand that if it comes down to life and death, that if this is an emergency situation, your first priority is getting your immediate family out,' she said. 'Unfortunately, sometimes animals will get left behind.' To help with the situation, the Manitoba Animal Alliance is collecting donations of crates, leashes, and collars. It's also sending hundreds of pounds of food to the evacuated communities. 'We need funds to purchase food. We need funds to send supplies up north,' she said. 'We need volunteers who are willing to pick up animals, meet animal owners with the pet, and who are able to emergency foster them.' Humane Society setting up temporary shelter On Monday, the Winnipeg Humane Society announced it's setting up a temporary shelter at the St. Norbert Community Centre to help wildfire evacuees who fled with their pets. At this shelter, the Humane Society will be able to help about 60 animals, providing them with housing, exercise, and vet care. Families will also have designated visiting hours. The organization expects the shelter will be ready to take in animals by Tuesday morning. · With files from CTV's Rachel Lagacé
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pimicikamak Cree Nation wildfire evacuees to sleep in warm beds at Ontario hotel Sunday
Dozens of wildfire evacuees from Pimicikamak Cree Nation checked into a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Sunday after days spent without sleep in a Winnipeg evacuation centre. On Saturday, First Nations leaders from across Manitoba called on the federal, provincial and Winnipeg municipal governments to direct city hotels to make space for community members being displaced by more than two dozen wildfires burning across the province. The Manitoba government declared a provincial state of emergency on Wednesday, with more than 17,000 evacuees expected to be fleeing wildfires in northern Manitoba. Pimicikimak Cree Nation was placed under an emergency evacuation order and thousands were forced to leave home as a wildfire burned out of control near the First Nation. As of Sunday afternoon, that fire was 3,300 hectares in size, according to the most recent fire bulletin from the province. Community members from Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake, were first sent to Norway House Cree Nation, which has been under an evacuation notice since Wednesday. Residents there were told to prepare for evacuation but have not been ordered to leave. From there, Pimicikamak evacuees were sent to an evacuation centre set up at a soccer complex in north Winnipeg. Sheena Garrick, who works with Jordan's Principle for Pimicikamak Cree Nation, said conditions at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North facility are "horrible". "Everybody's crying, moms are crying, their kids, they want to go home. It's very heartbreaking," she said, adding the crying has been keeping tired evacuees awake. When the First Nation had the opportunity to send its citizens to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Garrick worked overnight on Saturday to organize a group of 47 people to fill a plane. The evacuees landed in Hamilton on Sunday morning and each had a comfortable place to sleep that night, Garrick said. "There was so much relief. Everybody was smiling. Everybody was so happy coming here to a warm meal, knowing they're gonna have a warm bed," she said. Denny Scott, an officer with Jordan's Principal, said the Pimicikamak evacuees finally had a chance to rest since they were first ordered to leave the First Nation on Wednesday. "But Cross Lake is coming together as one and we're together as one," Scott said. Garrick said her phone has been blowing up with questions from community members about when the next plane is going to leave from Winnipeg. On Sunday, she said two more planes carrying 119 people each were expected to arrive in Ontario. "The chaos that's going on in Winnipeg right now, it's nothing like that. You're going to come here, you're going to be happy. You're going to be comfortable," she said.
CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Pimicikamak Cree Nation wildfire evacuees to sleep in warm beds at Ontario hotel Sunday
Social Sharing Dozens of wildfire evacuees from Pimicikamak Cree Nation checked into a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Sunday after days spent without sleep in a Winnipeg evacuation centre. On Saturday, F irst Nations leaders from across Manitoba called on the federal, provincial and Winnipeg municipal governments to direct city hotels to make space for community members being displaced by more than two dozen wildfires burning across the province. The Manitoba government declared a provincial state of emergency on Wednesday, with more than 17,000 evacuees expected to be fleeing wildfires in northern Manitoba. Pimicikimak Cree Nation was placed under an emergency evacuation order and thousands were forced to leave home as a wildfire burned out of control near the First Nation. As of Sunday afternoon, that fire was 3,300 hectares in size, according to the most recent fire bulletin from the province. Community members from Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake, were first sent to Norway House Cree Nation, which has also been under an evacuation notice since Wednesday. From there, Pimicikamak evacuees were sent to an evacuation centre set up at a soccer complex in north Winnipeg. Sheena Garrick, who works with Jordan's Principle for Pimicikamak Cree Nation, said conditions at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North facility are "horrible". "Everybody's crying, moms are crying, their kids, they want to go home. It's very heartbreaking," she said, adding the crying has been keeping tired evacuees awake. When the First Nation had the opportunity to send its citizens to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Garrick worked overnight on Saturday to organize a group of 47 people to fill a plane. The evacuees landed in Hamilton on Sunday morning and each had a comfortable place to sleep that night, Garrick said. "There was so much relief. Everybody was smiling. Everybody was so happy coming here to a warm meal, knowing they're gonna have a warm bed," she said. Denny Scott, an officer with Jordan's Principal, said the Pimicikamak evacuees finally had a chance to rest since they were first ordered to leave the First Nation on Wednesday. "But Cross Lake is coming together as one and we're together as one," Scott said. Garrick said her phone has been blowing up with questions from community members about when the next plane is going to leave from Winnipeg. On Sunday, she said two more planes carrying 119 people each were expected to arrive in Ontario.
CBC
5 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Cross Lake evacuee drives hours to Winnipeg to escape wildfire
Shane Castel, Cross Lake evacuee in Manitoba, says he is worried about losing his home after having to drive hours to Winnipeg to escape the wildfires.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Smoke pours into the US as Canada wildfires force province's largest evacuation in ‘living memory'
By Andrew Freedman , CNN Wildfires burning in Sherridon, Manitoba, Canada on 27 May, 2025. Photo: Manitoba government / AFP Massive wildfires burning out of control in western and central Canada are forcing thousands to flee as dire forecasts for the country's fire season come to fruition. The intensifying blazes are also sending hazardous smoke toward major cities in the United States. The premiers of Manitoba and Saskatchewan have declared states of emergency, and much of Canada, from the Northwest Territories and Alberta to Ontario, are at "extreme" risk of wildfires - the highest level on Environment Canada's fire risk scale. There are just over 170 wildfires burning across Canada as of Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center, and about half are uncontrolled. The country raised its National Preparedness Level to level 5 of 5 on Thursday, which is unusually high for this early in the fire season. Last year, Canada didn't reach that level until July 15. In Manitoba, around 17,000 people are under evacuation orders, including the city of Flin Flon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation and the northern community of Cross Lake, along with Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, according to CNN's Canadian news partner CBC News. The province's state of emergency will remain in effect for a month and may be extended if conditions warrant, said Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew. "This is a moment of fear and uncertainty. This is a moment of concern," Kinew said, acknowledging this is the largest evacuation order in "in most people's living memory". Around 2000 residents were stranded in Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb, after thick smoke from the encroaching fire shut down its airport at around 6:30 p.m. CDT Thursday, the First Nation's chief, Gordie Bear, told CBC. "We're getting desperate now. It's getting rougher," Bear said. Children and elders were among the community members still trying to evacuate, Pukatawagan resident Venessa Hart told CBC Thursday evening. "How they're going to get us out now?" Hart said. "I'm scared. I'm really scared. My anxiety is through the roof." Wildfires have also forced thousands of evacuations in neighboring Saskatchewan, and Premier Scott Moe declared a 30-day provincial emergency Thursday. It followed calls from First Nations leaders to take that step, noting "deep concerns" over resources to battle the fires. "It's a very serious situation that we're faced with in Saskatchewan. We do need some rainfall and we need that sooner rather than later," Moe said at a news conference. Climate change is leading to an increase in wildfire risk days, as well as more frequent and larger fires that exhibit more extreme wildfire behavior. Canada had its worst wildfire season on record in 2023, when extreme heat and drought helped propel blazes that burned more than 45 million acres. Last year's fire season was Canada's second-worst of the century. Some of those blazes also sent thick, hazardous smoke into US cities. This year, wildfires have burned more than 1.58 million acres in Canada, about 40 percent above the 10-year average for this point in the year. Nearly 90 percent of the acreage burned has been in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, though there are many ongoing blazes in British Columbia and Alberta as well, where some evacuations are underway. Eight firefighters were trapped near Chipewyan Lake in northern Alberta Thursday as fires became more volatile amid hot, dry conditions and strong, shifting winds, CBC reported. In Saskatchewan, about 250,000 acres have burned during each of the past two days. About 430,000 acres-an area twice the size of New York City-have burned in Manitoba since Sunday alone. Manitoba has already seen about four times the average acres burned for this time of year, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. The smoke plume from fires in the region covered over half a million square miles on Thursday, which is double the size of Texas. The wildfires have erupted during an unusually hot period for the regions, with temperatures running as much as 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average. Both provinces have also seen dry conditions this spring, including some moderate levels of drought. Computer models show smoke from the western Canadian blazes will spread into the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Friday and throughout the weekend, potentially affecting the cities of Green Bay, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit. The smoke will likely be in the lower to middle levels of the atmosphere, which could lower visibility and crater air quality in some areas. Authorities in Minnesota issued an air quality alert for the northern half of the state, warning that fine particle levels are expected to reach "a level considered unhealthy for everyone". A similar alert is in effect throughout Michigan and Wisconsin for Friday into Saturday morning. Minnesota's Arrowhead region had the poorest air quality in the nation on Friday morning due to the smoke. Some of the mid-and-low-level smoke could linger through the weekend in parts of the Midwest, according to the National Weather Service, while projections show a high-level smoke plume plunging even further south across the Plains. High-level smoke - which doesn't affect air quality - has spread across the Northern Plains, shielding the sun slightly and potentially creating vibrant sunrises and sunsets. More smoky days could be ahead for millions this summer. Canada's seasonal wildfire forecast called for well above-average blazes, and much of the western US, too, will have above-normal wildfire potential by July, according to National Interagency Fire Center forecasts. - CNN
