Latest news with #NorwayHouse
CTV News
8 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Governments to give financial aid to wildfire evacuees in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Members of the Royal Canadian Air Force help the Munroe family board a C-130 Hercules aircraft in Norway House, Man., Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the Norway House Airport as crews continue to fight wildfires in northern Manitoba. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski The federal and provincial governments have announced they will match Red Cross donations to help those affected by wildfires burning in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Both provinces declared provincewide states of emergency last week to allow various levels of government to co-ordinate resources and support. The federal government announced Wednesday that it would match every dollar donated to the Canadian Red Cross that will support wildfire disaster relief and recovery efforts across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The government of Manitoba also pledged to match Red Cross donations to help with wildfire response in the province. The Government of Saskatchewan said it would immediately provide $15 million to the Canadian Red Cross to work with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency to support more than 15,000 residents in the province who have been displaced by wildfires. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said this fundraising initiative reflects the generosity shown in his province and throughout the country. Environment Canada issued bulletins warning of poor air quality in parts of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where fires have forced a total of more than 30,000 people from their homes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
CTV News
10 hours ago
- Business
- CTV News
Governments to give financial aid to wildfire evacuees in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Members of the Royal Canadian Air Force help the Munroe family board a C-130 Hercules aircraft in Norway House, Man., Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at the Norway House Airport as crews continue to fight wildfires in northern Manitoba. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski The federal and provincial governments have announced they will match Red Cross donations to help those affected by wildfires burning in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Both provinces declared provincewide states of emergency last week to allow various levels of government to co-ordinate resources and support. The federal government announced Wednesday that it would match every dollar donated to the Canadian Red Cross that will support wildfire disaster relief and recovery efforts across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The government of Manitoba also pledged to match Red Cross donations to help with wildfire response in the province. The Government of Saskatchewan said it would immediately provide $15 million to the Canadian Red Cross to work with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency to support more than 15,000 residents in the province who have been displaced by wildfires. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said this fundraising initiative reflects the generosity shown in his province and throughout the country. Environment Canada issued bulletins warning of poor air quality in parts of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where fires have forced a total of more than 30,000 people from their homes. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025.
CBC
2 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Norway House evacuates personal care home due to wildfire smoke, deteriorating air quality
Social Sharing Norway House Cree Nation moved residents of a personal care home in the community south Tuesday, as smoke from nearby wildfires continues to blow in and air quality deteriorates. More than a dozen elders who live at the Pinaow Wachi personal care home in Norway House were evacuated to a facility in Winnipeg, about 460 kilometres to the south, that's also owned by the First Nation. The elders who left the community were accompanied by their caretakers on a Canadian Armed Forces C-130 Hercules aircraft. "There's unpredictable things happening in and around Norway House," Chief Larson Anderson told CBC News Tuesday afternoon. "We're not in danger of fires — just it's the smoke that's really more of an issue." Norway House isn't under evacuation order, but is under an evacuation notice, with people ordered to be ready to leave. The care home was evacuated "to be on the safe side," said Anderson. The community has been doing voluntary evacuations since last week, allowing elders, young children and some adults to get relief from the smoke, he said. Around 150 voluntary evacuees have been moved out of the community so far, Anderson said. Evacuation continues for Pimicikamak residents Norway House is also the temporary home for many residents of Pimicikamak Cree Nation — also known as Cross Lake — who were given a mandatory evacuation order to leave their homes on May 28. Some from Pimicikamak — about 70 kilometres north of Norway House — were flown out of the community at that point, but high winds and smoke grounded flights. The remaining 6,500 residents were told to head to Norway House, even though the community was only expecting 1,000 people. The Canadian Armed Forces said Tuesday it has evacuated more than 3,500 people from fire zones in the province, with work in the past 24 hours taking people from Pimicikamak to Winnipeg and from Pukatawagan, in northwestern Manitoba, to The Pas. The federal government and the Canadian Armed Forces continue evacuation efforts for Pimicikamak and the community of Cross Lake, with multiple agencies participating in the response, along with community members and the local fire department, the province said in its Tuesday fire bulletin. The out-of-control fire near Pimicikamak Cree Nation is about five kilometres away from the community and about 2,300 hectares in size, the bulletin said. Manitoba's wildfire service is currently fighting 27 active wildfires across the province, and has seen 111 wildfires to date — well above the average of 88 for this time of year. WATCH | Manitoba premier praises wildfire response: 'We have each other': Premier Wab Kinew praises Manitobans amid wildfire crisis 2 hours ago Duration 8:13 Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew speaks with CBC News chief correspondent Adrienne Arsenault about the province's response to the wildfire crisis, including the call for more firefighting equipment, the need for more accommodations for evacuees and the sacrifices made by people across the province. Samantha Folster, Cross Lake's co-ordinator for the Norway House evacuation, estimated 100 people from the community who went to Norway House have chosen to stay there. For the time being, no further planes will come to take Pimicikamak residents to Winnipeg, she said. "We've given them the opportunity to come to the airport, we've called them, I've used social media to attract them to come," said Folster. "Some of them stayed behind. They have a lot of close family here, so they've decided to stay in the community for whatever length that they feel they can stay," she said. "Hopefully we don't receive an evacuation [order]." Norway House watching fire situation Meanwhile, the smoke in Norway House has been causing low visibility, so much so that Norway House resident Dean Robertson had trouble even seeing the trees across from his house. "There's been some ash falling since last night a little bit, and I went to look at my vehicle — it kind of had a little bit of soot covering on it," he said. Robertson said with the community on an evacuation notice, he's been getting essentials like clothing ready to go and has made sure to fill his car with gas. Chief Anderson said Norway House has created large fire breaks as well, in case a blaze comes near the community. Sprinklers and water hoses have been set up on buildings too. "It will buy us time … if the fire ever gets to that point," he said.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
'We take care of each other': Pimicikamak residents pitch in as road opens for wildfire evacuees
The intersection of Highway 6 and PR 373 is about a six-hour drive from Winnipeg, on a section of the major road that runs parallel to the Hudson Bay Railway in Manitoba's north. A sign advising travellers the provincial road was closed could be seen on one side of the rail tracks crossing it Friday afternoon. On the other, a white pickup truck greeted vehicles with its own sign: "Food and water for evacuees." "The road is open and we figured the people would be hungry, stressed out," said Darryl McIvor. He and his family were handing out sandwiches and chips to people coming out of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, also known as Cross Lake. "It's our people and we have to look after each other." Around 1,000 Pimicikamak residents were still in the northern Manitoba First Nation as of Friday morning, three days after the community was ordered to evacuate because of a nearby wildfire. PR 373 — the only road connecting Pimicikamak and nearby Norway House to the rest of Manitoba — was temporarily opened to drivers exiting those communities later that day. Brenda Monias was on her way from Pimicikamak to Thompson, where her daughter lives. The drive "was smoky," Monias said. "There's still some hot spots. Still a bit of fire here and there on the side of the road." The blaze near Pimicikamak was about 3,290 hectares and out of control as of the province's latest fire bulletin Friday afternoon. More than 6,000 residents were told to head to Norway House even though that community was only expecting 1,000 evacuees 'Very chaotic' Pimicikamak Chief David Monias told CBC News Friday afternoon 3,332 people had been waiting in Norway House to be flown out that morning. "We had about 11 to 12 Hercules planes that were picking up the people," Monias said, though he added he was still waiting for information from the Canadian Armed Forces as to how many residents were flown out. "We have a co-ordinator there and she doesn't even have time to talk to us because it's very chaotic, because they're trying to get everybody out." Monias had told CBC that morning residents decided to return to the community in spite of the evacuation order out of frustration, amid long waits for ferries and unavailable airlifts. PR 373 was open to evacuees until 8 p.m. Those leaving from Norway House had to be across the ferry that crosses the Nelson River at the community's entrance by service cutoff at 7 p.m. Thelma Muskego was at the junction with Highway 6 to pick up her son, who was coming down the road from Norway House with Muskego's brother. She said she'd been stranded in Thompson since Sunday, after Pimicikamak began moving elderly and other vulnerable residents out of the community because of the heavy smoke. "My son didn't want to leave … because we had another fire two years ago and he's kind of like traumatized and scared to go through that again, to drive through," she said. "We had to assure him that was OK." Hanson Richard was heading for Winnipeg. "That's the instruction from our incident team," he said. "Thompson is full. There's evacuations all over, right? Lynn Lake. Now I hear Split Lake." 'One way in, one way out' Premier Wab Kinew said in a news conference Friday the government expected to reach about 17,000 wildfire evacuees in total later that day. "I'm just glad that everybody is doing a great job for us," Richard said. "Our incident team back home. Firefighters, of course, doing an awesome job … and a special shout-out to Norway House." Richard said when something like the wildfire happens, they're all "one big family." "We take care of each other," he said. "We only have one highway to share. Only one way in, one way out." Darryl McIvor said he figured he'd come to the junction to see people, including family, as they travelled by while also helping out. McIvor said he may be back out there another time to lend other evacuees a hand — even after they're given the go-ahead to return home. "It'll be a relief to come back but, you know, people still get stressed out when they leave home," he said. Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@
CBC
5 days ago
- General
- CBC
'We take care of each other': Pimicikamak residents pitch in as road opens for wildfire evacuees
The intersection of Highway 6 and PR 373 is about a six-hour drive from Winnipeg, on a section of the major road that runs parallel to the Hudson Bay Railway in Manitoba's north. A sign advising travellers the provincial road was closed could be seen on one side of the rail tracks crossing it Friday afternoon. On the other, a white pickup truck greeted vehicles with its own sign: "Food and water for evacuees." "The road is open and we figured the people would be hungry, stressed out," said Darryl McIvor. He and his family were handing out sandwiches and chips to people coming out of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, also known as Cross Lake. "It's our people and we have to look after each other." Around 1,000 Pimicikamak residents were still in the northern Manitoba First Nation as of Friday morning, three days after the community was ordered to evacuate because of a nearby wildfire. PR 373 — the only road connecting Pimicikamak and nearby Norway House to the rest of Manitoba — was temporarily opened to drivers exiting those communities later that day. Brenda Monias was on her way from Pimicikamak to Thompson, where her daughter lives. The drive "was smoky," Monias said. "There's still some hot spots. Still a bit of fire here and there on the side of the road." The blaze near Pimicikamak was about 3,290 hectares and out of control as of the province's latest fire bulletin Friday afternoon. More than 6,000 residents were told to head to Norway House even though that community was only expecting 1,000 evacuees 'Very chaotic' Pimicikamak Chief David Monias told CBC News Friday afternoon 3,332 people had been waiting in Norway House to be flown out that morning. "We had about 11 to 12 Hercules planes that were picking up the people," Monias said, though he added he was still waiting for information from the Canadian Armed Forces as to how many residents were flown out. "We have a co-ordinator there and she doesn't even have time to talk to us because it's very chaotic, because they're trying to get everybody out." Monias had told CBC that morning residents decided to return to the community in spite of the evacuation order out of frustration, amid long waits for ferries and unavailable airlifts. PR 373 was open to evacuees until 8 p.m. Those leaving from Norway House had to be across the ferry that crosses the Nelson River at the community's entrance by service cutoff at 7 p.m. Thelma Muskego was at the junction with Highway 6 to pick up her son, who was coming down the road from Norway House with Muskego's brother. She said she'd been stranded in Thompson since Sunday, after Pimicikamak began moving elderly and other vulnerable residents out of the community because of the heavy smoke. "My son didn't want to leave … because we had another fire two years ago and he's kind of like traumatized and scared to go through that again, to drive through," she said. "We had to assure him that was OK." Hanson Richard was heading for Winnipeg. "That's the instruction from our incident team," he said. "Thompson is full. There's evacuations all over, right? Lynn Lake. Now I hear Split Lake." 'One way in, one way out' Premier Wab Kinew said in a news conference Friday the government expected to reach about 17,000 wildfire evacuees in total later that day. "I'm just glad that everybody is doing a great job for us," Richard said. "Our incident team back home. Firefighters, of course, doing an awesome job … and a special shout-out to Norway House." Richard said when something like the wildfire happens, they're all "one big family." "We take care of each other," he said. "We only have one highway to share. Only one way in, one way out." Darryl McIvor said he figured he'd come to the junction to see people, including family, as they travelled by while also helping out. McIvor said he may be back out there another time to lend other evacuees a hand — even after they're given the go-ahead to return home. "It'll be a relief to come back but, you know, people still get stressed out when they leave home," he said.
