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Winnipeg Free Press
15-07-2025
- Climate
- Winnipeg Free Press
Firefighters in Garden Hill protect lumberyard from flames
A wildfire threatens to burn construction material on the Garden Hill First Nation that is needed to build homes in the surrounding region in northeastern Manitoba. Alex McDougall, interim grand chief of Anisininew Okimawin, which represents four Island Lake First Nations, estimates there's a shortage of 400 homes. If the fire consumes the material, it could take years to re-build inventory, partly due to the remoteness of the area that requires supplies be trucked in on winter roads. Alex McDougall photo Heavy smoke is seen in Garden Hill First Nation on Saturday. The blaze that threatens the community has burned 2,865 hectares thus far. 'If the materials do go up, that means that they'll probably have to go through the process of filing a claim for the material, trying to get that resupplied, and again, falling behind trying to respond to the chronic backlog of housing that our communities experience,' McDougall said Tuesday. The blaze that threatens Garden Hill, which has burned 2,865 hectares thus far, started on the south side of the community, where the bulk lumberyard is located. Fire crews are stationed at the yard day and night and have installed sprinklers to protect the supplies. 'It would be a devastating loss to the community if that material was to burn,' McDougall said. 'All too often as a very quick fix within our northern communities, what we see is portable homes and mobile homes being brought in, which aren't suitable to the environment and don't last long.' The chief said no homes or material had been lost as of Tuesday. About 90 per cent of Garden Hill residents had been evacuated as of Tuesday, but about 1,000 priority residents in St. Theresa Point and Wasagamack need to be evacuated. McDougall was told late Monday that Stevenson Island, another community in the region, may also have to evacuate. The only airstrip that's big enough to accommodate the Hercules aircraft, which the military is using to evacuate the area, is on Stevenson Island, which has 400 residents. On Tuesday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service said 122 wildfires were burning. This season, there have been 305 wildfires to date, well above the average of 221 fires for this date. In total, 12,000 Manitoba residents remained evacuated from eight communities. More than 6,000 were being housed in more than 2,100 Manitoba hotel rooms, while about 1,300 were staying in Ontario hotel rooms. The province has room for more than 7,000 evacuees at shelters, Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister of the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, said Monday. The northern city of Thompson continues to be under an evacuation notice owing to a nearby fire which has burned 163,000 hectares. Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook said in a daily radio update that firefighters continue to remove vegetation to reduce the fire risk in and around the city of 13,000 people. Twenty firefighters from Mexico are helping to prevent the spread of the fire toward Thompson, Smook said. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. Thompson residents were asked to fill out pre-evacuation forms. The city has said an evacuation would be called if the nearby fire cuts off Highway 6, the vital link to the south. The province remains at a moderate to high fire danger level, the bulletin said. Much of Central Canada and Manitoba were placed under special air quality statements or warnings early Monday morning amid smoke from wildfires. Environment Canada advised residents to limit time outdoors and watch for smoke exposure symptoms. Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole. Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Long waits for bathroom at U of W shelter, evacuee says
A northern Manitoba woman forced from her home due to wildfire says an evacuation centre set up at the University of Winnipeg is not properly equipped to handle evacuees. Sophia Harper waited in line for several hours to use the washroom at the U of W's Axworthy Health & RecPlex, which has been set up as a congregate shelter for wildfire evacuees. 'I started feeling bladder problems because you can't just hold it for that long,' Harper said outside the complex Monday afternoon. SOPHIA HARPER PHOTO Members of Sophia Harper's family, from Garden Hill Anisininew Nation, aboard a Hercules aircraft bound for Winnipeg last week. She is one of more than 450 Manitobans staying at the shelter, and has no other option because she has no friends or family in Winnipeg. Harper, who fled her home in Garden Hill Anisininew Nation on Friday, said the gym has one set of bathrooms for women and one for men. 'I keep sending my kids over to check if the line is long because I can't stand there forever,' she said. Harper left the remote, fly-in community of about 4,000 people Friday morning by airplane and arrived at the U of W shelter by the afternoon. The community is located about 600 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. Harper is staying at the shelter with her children and grandchildren but says it's been difficult being around hundreds of strangers and sleeping on cots. 'I get cramps all over my body and I can't lay down on that (cot) so I slept on the floor,' she said. The shelter can fit as many as 800 people, the province said. On Monday afternoon, about a dozen evacuees milled around the complex's entrance near the U of W. A pair of evacuees, who declined to provide their name, said they would rather stay anywhere else and might try to move to the shelter on Leila Avenue because it's bigger and reportedly has more amenities. 'I keep sending my kids over to check if the line is long because I can't stand there forever.'–Sophia Harper The Leila site, which is hosting about 650 people, has room for 1,200 evacuees. Rows of green cots, some occupied by people, could be seen from the U of W gym's entrance Monday. Some blankets were tied up to look like tents above the cots. Harper said the shelter is doing its best to feed and clothe people, but said she had to give her socks to a fellow evacuee yesterday. 'He said he hadn't changed his socks in two or three days, I couldn't believe it,' she said. A provincial spokesperson said it had not received any complaints about the lack of bathrooms at the Axworthy complex but a Free Press reporter spotted a truck setting up several portable washrooms outside the gym Monday afternoon. Alex McDougall, interim Grand Chief of Anisininew Okimawin, which represents four Island Lake First Nations including Garden Hill, has spoken to the provincial and federal governments about additional resources at the shelters. 'I think all of the resources that have been provided are stressed to their limits everywhere,' he said. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. McDougall also worried about keeping evacuees busy while they're away from home and in an unfamiliar place. 'I think all of the resources that have been provided are stressed to their limits everywhere.'–Alex McDougall 'It's getting a bit overwhelming as far as trying to provide care and other activities to keep these members busy and preoccupied with activities so they're not just sitting in these shelters waiting to hear when they're going to go home,' he said. Children are going stir crazy owing to a lack of activities in the shelters, McDougall said. 'We need to get some more help on the ground here to provide that assistance to those members, maybe planning field trips or going to the zoo, taking them to the movies.' Nicole BuffieMultimedia producer Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole. Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
