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Winnipeg Free Press
4 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘Collective effort' to protect evacuees
Proactive measures taken by law enforcement and others will help keep vulnerable wildfire evacuees safe while far from home, the grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak said Thursday. 'This initiative will address a lot of the concerns our leadership have — drug trafficking, human trafficking and sexual violence on our women, these are our utmost concerns,' said MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee. 'This is a collaborative effort to protect our people, and it takes a collaborative effort to be able to do what we need to do.' Settee made the comments at a Winnipeg Police Service news conference, jointly held with RCMP, where officials discussed what they're doing to ensure evacuees are protected. 'It's all about keeping our people safe,' said Settee. 'We will do it together — we must do it together.' At least 14,000 evacuees, many from northern First Nations, have fled to Winnipeg as wildfires threatened their home communities and the province declared a state of emergency. During past evacuations due to natural disasters, Settee said, First Nations leaders have seen exploitation and predatory behaviour. 'We've heard stories, in previous evacuations, that there are people going around trying to find people to sell drugs to and also trying to apprehend young women,' said Settee. 'This is a proactive approach. Winnipeg police community engagement Supt. Bonnie Emerson said measures include police liaison teams going to shelters and hotels daily to have conversations with evacuees and service providers, planning safety forums at the sites, and setting up a phone number for evacuees to call. Provincial officials understand there can be 'risks and challenges' in congregate shelters, Natural Resources Minister Lisa Naylor said at a briefing at the legislature Thursday. She said the province has partnered with the Downtown Community Safety Partnership to increase patrols downtown and is working with the Red Response Team on 'proactive intervention, de-escalation and social supports.' 'These are cultural advisers who go to the sites where the evacuees are staying and provide cultural activities for children and youth,' Naylor added. The minister said the province is working with MKO to bring in First Nation safety officers to provide support. Indigenous security companies have mobilized to assist, said Settee. The grand chief also hopes for increased resources to support the mental and emotional well-being of evacuees. The city police service stood up its emergency response operations centre and has put more cruiser cars out on the road in case of an uptick in calls for service, said WPS Insp. John Lutz, a major incident response team commander. There hasn't been a big jump in emergency calls to date, said Lutz, adding officers have dispatched to about 70 calls for service at shelters and hotels since last week. Police would not reveal further details of those calls for service, but Emerson said she's not aware of any charges being laid to date in connection with incidents at evacuee centres. City police have also logged about 167 'proactive engagements' in the area of shelters, which has included keeping an eye on parking lots and conducting traffic enforcement. Elsewhere in the province, Mounties have deployed extra officers in communities in its jurisdiction where evacuees have fled to, said RCMP Insp. Catherine Light. Those Mounties have been conducting walkthroughs of evacuation centres and hotels, doing extra patrols, and speaking with evacuees about their concerns, said Light. 'We're all here to help… don't be afraid to speak up,' said Light. — with files from Chris Kitching Erik PinderaReporter Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Erik. Every piece of reporting Erik 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.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Hotel spaces freed up in Winnipeg for wildfire evacuees, Alberta dealing with winds
WINNIPEG — Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Monday hotels in Winnipeg are opening up to thousands of evacuees who have fled their homes due to raging wildfires. Speaking ahead of the premiers' conference in Saskatoon, Kinew said some 1,000 hotel rooms are being made available for evacuees in the province's capital city. "Nobody wants to sleep on a cot for more than a day or two, even in an emergency," Kinew said. "We're connecting folks who need those enhanced accessibility supports first and then broadening it out to everybody else who needs help, too." More than 17,000 people have been displaced since last week, including all 5,000 residents of Flin Flon. Emergency centres were set up as available hotel rooms in cities have been scarce. Some residents from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, east of Flin Flon, were taken to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., beginning Sunday. Around 600 members were expected Monday to make their way to Ontario. "This has been a harrowing experience for many of our people, but at the end of the day, it's all about saving lives. It's all about keeping people safe," said Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Garrison Settee. Efforts to get First Nations evacuees out of Manitoba are being spearheaded by Xpera, a firm offering various security and evacuation support services. Settee said the company is handling buses, flights and hotel accommodations. Robert Garland from Xpera said about 226 evacuees had arrived and planes carrying more were to land late Monday. He said the company could find accommodations for 3,000, but that number could change depending on the fire situation. "The hotel groups down here are definitely looking forward to pitching in and showing our friends from Manitoba the hospitality ... that Niagara has to offer," he said. Higher courts in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were to meet this week in Winnipeg for a conference, but it was cancelled to make hotel spaces available to evacuees. The fire threatening Flin Flon began a week ago across the boundary in Saskatchewan and has now grown to 400 square kilometres. Crews have said the fire has been contained to outside the community's perimeter highway. Residents were ordered out last Wednesday in an evacuation that Flin Flon local Derek Kemp called "immediate and hectic." A longtime musician, Kemp rounded up his guitars, amplifiers and a hard drive with 20 years' worth of music he couldn't leave behind. He watched the fire grow in the days leading up to the evacuation. "I just remember seeing a little bit of black smoke," he said in an interview. "And then the next day, when I woke up, it was just giant plumes of smoke." Now staying with family in Brandon, Man., Kemp said he might take some odd jobs to make some money and stay busy. On Sunday, he and about a hundred others from Flin Flon gathered at a Winnipeg park to spend time together. "(We) were all kind of just hanging out there," Kemp said. "At one point, they sang a song together." Manitoba reported 25 active wildfires Sunday, with 10 listed as out of control. Kinew said the support his province has received from other jurisdictions is appreciated, but noted Canada needs to scale up its firefighting capabilities. "As a nation, we're going to have to contend with future fire seasons being more and more like this," he said. "We could use every water bomber we can get our hands on.' In Saskatchewan and Alberta, thousands more people have been affected by wildfires ignited by hot, dry weather. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said all of Canada has come together to help out the Prairie provinces. "Many others around this table are consistently reaching out to the three of us to offer resources," he said before the premiers' meeting. "And for that, we're very grateful." As of Monday, 18 fires were burning in Saskatchewan, with seven of them not contained. Evacuation orders were issued for northern areas, including Pelican Narrows, East Trout Lake and Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. More than 8,000 Saskatchewan residents are out of their homes due to fires. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said her province has seen nearly 5,000 people evacuated. There were 26 out-of-control fires in Alberta. The province has experienced shifting winds, so some fire crews sent elsewhere have been called home, Smith said. "With so many communities facing evacuation ... we've got to be able to respond in a way that is going to be rapid." This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2025. — With files from Lisa Johnson, Aaron Sousa and Jack Farrell in Edmonton Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press Melden Sie sich an, um Ihr Portfolio aufzurufen.
