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Winnipeg Free Press

Relief, gratitude on faces of residents, workers allowed back in Falcon Lake area

FALCON LAKE — The tears welling up in John Wanke's eyes revealed the toll the past week had taken on the Falcon Lake resident. Provincial officials, concerned about the risk of spreading wildfires forced Wanke, his wife and their dog out of their home last Thursday. By Wednesday afternoon, he was nearly done unpacking his SUV when the emotions finally overcame him. 'It's nice to be home,' he said after spending the last six days at a friend's house in Kleefeld. 'They took us in, and they have newborn twins and a five-year-old. So it was a big household for a few days.' MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Falcon Lake resident John Wanke returned to the community he's called home since the early 2000s. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2012, Wanke shared how the Falcon Lake community — where he's lived since the early 2000s — has rallied around him, raising thousands of dollars for the annual MS Bike Ride in Gimli. 'My kids grew up here… and I couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if our homes burned down,' he said, as he pointed out neighbours' homes and recounted how long each had lived in the area. A small portion of Whiteshell Provincial Park, including Falcon Lake and its roughly 800 dwellings, reopened to some residents Wednesday. The rest remains closed as wildfire conditions persist, though crews have made progress battling fires in eastern Manitoba. The province said parts of the Whiteshell that remain under a mandatory evacuation order will be reopened in a phased approach when it is safe to do so. A few streets over, John and Audrey Hill were in the process of unloading their minivan at the cabin they've owned for 25 years. 'It's great (to be back),' Audrey said. 'It's nice not to have to drive by and see a barricade on the road. 'Everything's fine. The birds are singing, and the grass needs cutting.' The province placed the couple, their large dog, Atticus, and other residents from the area at the Days Inn in Steinbach with others from the area. Audrey said they received wellness calls every day. 'We don't resent being evacuated,' she said. 'They need people out of the way. The last thing they need is traffic on the roads.' At the hotel, she said, it felt like an expat community. 'You'd meet in the lobby and talk about what you had heard and what you had seen in the reports,' she said. 'I'll tell you what I said to my kids in Alberta — it's a little bit tense, a little bit boring and it's a little bit like a holiday. You don't have to do dishes. You don't have to make your bed. But you're trying to fill in the time, and you're worried about the park.' Reports that a cottage once owned by disgraced fashion mogul Peter Nygard had gone up in flames on the south side of the lake sparked new concern among residents, many of whom feared the wildfires had reached Falcon Lake. 'That raised alarms again,' said Audrey, who later heard reports the fire may have been deliberately set. RCMP had yet to confirm arson as of Wednesday, though a spokesperson said it was 'quite possible' it was intentionally set. The Hotel at Falcon Lake, which was fully renovated in 2023, became a resting place for emergency workers in the area over the long weekend and was designated as an essential service. The Victoria Day weekend, hotel owner Sandra Romani said, is one of the busiest times for local businesses and the unofficial kickoff to the summer season. 'It's been challenging and interesting, but everyone in our part of the park has been safe,' she said. 'We're grateful for that, that the wildfire didn't make it to this side of the park.' Romani described moments of fear, saying they were forced to live minute by minute, unsure of how close the fire was to the community or how bad the situation might get. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Falcon Lake resident Audrey Hill (with dog Atticus) unloads the car after returning following the wildfire evacuation order. As soon as they reopened to the public at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Romani said the phones began ringing. 'People are really excited that they didn't have to cancel for this upcoming weekend,' she said. 'We had to disappoint a lot of people (last weekend), but to be honest, 99.9 per cent of people were very understanding, that it was a force of nature that everyone had to deal with and that no one could control.' Just west of the hotel, at the Falcon Lake Shell Station, owner Cassandra Lewis was relieved to call back the six employees who had been sent home last week. The May long weekend typically marks the first major training period for new summer staff. 'It wasn't normal,' she said. 'Lost income. Lost wages for our employees. May long weekend is our busiest weekend.' Attached to the gas station is Falcon Beach Auto & Towing, where manager Manny Demata said they had called three of their employees to come back to work Wednesday. 'They were ecstatic,' he said. Wednesdays A weekly dispatch from the head of the Free Press newsroom. As other businesses switched their 'open' signs back on and traffic slowly returned to the park, Ken Pickering, president of the Whiteshell Cottagers Association, said it symbolized hope for the area — a light at the end of the tunnel. 'Even though (the green light to return) only affected a certain number of people, it was a bit of sunshine,' he said. 'That's important for folks to start to get that news rather than it looking like it would be closed for a lengthy period of time.' Pickering, who owns a cottage at Falcon Lake, said there's also been an element of guilt. 'Just for the people that can't,' he said. 'There are a lot of people who can't get back just yet. It's a little bittersweet.' Scott BilleckReporter Scott Billeck is a general assignment reporter for the Free Press. A Creative Communications graduate from Red River College, Scott has more than a decade's worth of experience covering hockey, football and global pandemics. He joined the Free Press in 2024. Read more about Scott. Every piece of reporting Scott 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.