Latest news with #Pukatawagan
CBC
4 days ago
- Climate
- CBC
Pukatawagan calls for generators to expedite return of evacuees
After the First Nation asked Manitoba Hydro for generators, the utility said it's focusing on repairing power infrastructure damaged by wildfires to restore electricity. Without power, it's unclear when Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (also known as Pukatawagan) could lift one of the longest-running evacuation orders in the province this summer.
CBC
4 days ago
- General
- CBC
Unsure when Hydro repairs will finish, Pukatawagan asks for generators so evacuees can return home
Social Sharing An evacuated Manitoba First Nation left in the dark after wildfires knocked out power says the return of residents could be fast-tracked if the community was outfitted with generators — but the province's hydro provider says it's focusing on repairs instead. Pukatawagan's council had been in talks with Manitoba Hydro and the province to get generators, and temporarily supply electricity to the remote community while the Crown corporation restores the power infrastructure destroyed by out-of-control blazes earlier this summer, Deputy Chief Kelly Linklater told CBC News. Without generators, Linklater said it is unclear when Pukatawagan will get power back, which is needed to lift the evacuation order in the community — one of the longest-running in Manitoba this wildfire season — that could be expected to remain in place until mid-September. Peter Chura, a spokesperson for the Crown corporation, said Manitoba Hydro "understands the strain the community is under," but says crews will refrain from installing generators at this time. "We're confident that our efforts in our resources are best put toward repairing the damage and restoring the power," Chura told CBC News. For Linklater, "That's not acceptable … they are not looking at the best interest of the community," in the context of the ongoing evacuation from the community. "Is Manitoba Hydro going to be covering the cost for us, for their customers being out here?" Pukatawagan residents waiting to return home nearly 2 months after wildfires forced them out 20 days ago The fly-in community of Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, is under one of the longest evacuation orders in Manitoba this wildfire season, dragging out for close to two months by the end of July. Pukatawagan leadership says it might still be weeks before residents can go back. Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, had estimated residents could start returning in late August. Linklater said now that might not happen until the second week of September. "If they want us to assist us in getting our people back home, then of course they can do that," he said, referring to installing the generators. A spokesperson for the province said there are ongoing calls with communities to coordinate various levels of support, but it would be "premature" to comment on what role Manitoba could play in supporting the residents of Pukatawagan to go back home. "By focusing on repairing the damaged line, we will be able to re-energize the community more quickly," Manitoba Hydro said in a statement. Alternative used before Manitoba Hydro's decision came as a surprise to Linklater, who said the Crown corporation has used generators as an alternative in the past, and argues the cost of having evacuees displaced is greater than installing the devices. During the 2022 wildfire season, Manitoba Hydro installed two generators in Pukatawagan that were enough to power the remote community, sitting about 700 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, for weeks until the infrastructure damaged by wildfires was rebuilt, Linklater said. With far more damage to hydro infrastructure this summer, installing generators might be harder, but Linklater said the level of damage heightens the need for generators, given the timeline for power restoration can run longer. "I don't know what the issue is, I don't know why you have to fix up the whole line before they start sending us back home," he said. "Their priorities are obviously not with Pukatawagan." Moving machinery of the size of a generator into an isolated community like Pukatawagan would demand logistics and resources that Hydro's spokesperson Chura says are best directed at the moment to move material into the First Nation to restore power. "There would be difficulty especially with the rail line having restrictions on right now moving that kind of equipment up into the community, which would come at the cost of any of the other material," he said. But residents have been out of their homes for more than two months already, and Linklater said any efforts that could help them come back home sooner should be seized. "We've been out since May 29 … people are getting lonely to be out," he said. "In a couple of weeks, school will be starting. If we don't get going home quickly, what are we going to do about the education of our kids?" The remote, fly-in First Nation was put under a mandatory evacuation order after an out-of-control wildfire spread to within about a kilometre of the community at the end of May. Residents were relocated throughout Manitoba, and as hotel vacancies started running low in the province, some went to Niagara Falls, Ont. The blaze that forced Pukatawagan out is no longer an imminent danger to the community, Linklater said. Manitoba Hydro has made progress in restoring damaged infrastructure — replacing or repairing around half of nearly 200 poles damaged — but wildfires have caused more damage along the transmission line, and much of the remaining work is in remote areas difficult to access. "Our crews moved in there in about the middle of July once rail access became available," Chura said. "But more damage from fire happened after that and we're just regaining access to those areas to assess the damage." The Crown corporation said there's still no timeline for when power might be restored in Pukatawagan. Air purifiers and preparation With heavy smoke from wildfires blanketing the First Nation, Pukatawagan has been looking into buying and installing air purifiers for residents. Linklater said Pukatawagan's council wants to outfit homes, office buildings, the school and nursing station with the devices before residents return, in hopes of preventing a new evacuation later on due to poor air quality. The First Nation is in talks to get funding from Indigenous Services Canada for support in the purchase of around 600 units, he said. CBC News reached out to the federal agency for comment. The acquisition of generators and air purifiers for Pukatawagan, along with training residents on fire suppression, is also about planning for future wildfire seasons, said Linklater. "We very much appreciate everybody's assistance in this emergency," he said. But Linklater says if the community put some of these preparation measures in place, in future wildfire seasons, "we don't have to be dependent on anybody to take care of us, we can take care of ourselves."
CBC
10-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Choppers, dozers and railway workers: on the front lines of the Manitoba wildfire fight
Helicopter pilots, heavy machinery operators and railway workers are some of the people on the front lines of the Manitoba wildfire fight. Manitoba remains under a provincewide state of emergency as 29 wildfires continue to burn in the east, west and north, 10 of which are out of control. Those fires have forced 21,000 people from their homes and 27 communities are under mandatory evacuation order. Hundreds of unsung heroes, like Clifford Nabess, are working to contain the flames. Nabess and seven of his colleagues at the Keewatin Railway Company have been going in and out of the wildfires for days trying to save 16 train bridges that are essential for transporting people and goods to Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and Sherridon, a small community north of The Pas, which is about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. " It's the only really lifeline besides the airport that gets to the community of Pukatawagan," Nabess said. Their job is to refuel water trucks that have been keeping the bridges from burning. He said sometimes the fire is so close he can feel it. " You can feel the heat right through the side of the windows. There's a few times we've drove through fire where it's actually raining fire on the window," said Nabess. He and his colleagues know their lives are in danger every time they go to work, but if they don't and a bridge burns down, it could take two months to repair. The Sherridon wildfire is out of control and more than 300,000 hectares big, according to the province. Nabess estimates between 80 and 100 kilometres of forest has been destroyed around the two remote Northern Manitoba communities. " It's very bad … for people that will come back to work later this year, it's gonna look totally different because there's nothing there." For miles and miles, all you can see is bare land and total destruction, he said. U.S. helicopter pilots offer air support Rob Brunken spent 22 years as part of the United States Marine Corps. After retiring, he got his pilot's licence and now works for Columbia Helicopters in Aurora, Oregon. When he and his colleagues heard Manitoba needed critical air support and manpower, they stepped up. "We kind of showed up … and have just been trying to help wherever we can," Brunken said on the tarmac at The Pas airport. Four pilots, eight mechanics and two helicopters equipped with 1,200-gallon water buckets, from Columbia Helicopters, arrived in The Pas on May 30 and were ready for deployment the following day. Brunken said they have been working non-stop, but smoke and poor visibility have been challenging. " This is one of the worst weather conditions that I've seen, said Brunken. "The smoke just lays in. You got some pretty heavy easterly winds and it's just been pushing, it's been fuelling the fire and it has been pushing our visibility to kind of a minimum," he said. Brunken said you can't put out a wildfire with a helicopter, but you can coach the flames toward ground crews who are ready to snuff them out. " We're not like seeing a bunch of flame and saying, 'Oh, let's go put that out'," said Brunken. " The ground crews are really what makes the big difference. So what we do is we kind of get instructions like, 'Hey, the fire's heading this way, can you guys kind of help coach it over to our ground crews?' And that's really what we're trying to do," he said. The helicopters also provide air support for heavy machine operators like Gary Lajambe. Dozers used to create fire guards Lajambe and his team use bulldozers to tear up the earth, and break up the treeline to try and prevent the fires from spreading. They call that a fire guard, or fire break. "You make a just like a road allowance and then when the fire gets there it's got to kind of stop. It's got no fuel," said Lajambe. He said the only time it goes over a fire guard is when there are strong winds that push the flames into nearby trees. Lajambe has never seen the forest this dry. He said normally in the spring there's a lot more moisture in the land. He said this year, when the bulldozers push the trees, dust comes off them. "I've really never seen much of that throughout the years. So it's dry, it's really dry," he said. Lajambe said unless Manitoba gets a lot of rain, there could be a lot more wildfires this summer and fall.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- CTV News
From flames to Falls: Canada's Indigenous wildfire evacuees take refuge in Niagara
Scores of wildfires have swept across Canada since the start of May, forcing more than 30,000 people to evacuate in three provinces. NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. — As wildfires engulfed Manitoba's remote north in late May, Joseph Garry, 63, fled the Mathias Colomb Cree Nation indigenous reserve, also known as Pukatawagan, on a helicopter. With other evacuees, he took three separate government flights before boarding a bus to find shelter in Niagara Falls, Canada's most popular tourist destination, some 2,000 kilometres from home. Scores of wildfires have swept across Canada since the start of May, forcing more than 30,000 people to evacuate in three provinces, spreading smoke into the U.S., and disrupting crude oil and mining production. Indigenous communities have been hit especially hard. Although First Nations people make up only around 5 per cent of Canada's population, they are among the most affected by this year's wildfires. Manitoba is struggling with its largest-ever fire evacuation effort. Early evacuees took shelter in community and sport centers in Winnipeg, but the province's cities are running out of space, forcing officials to turn to other locations such as Ontario's Niagara Falls, which has ample hotels. Around 2,000 evacuees from Manitoba and 500 from Northern Ontario are staying in four hotels in Niagara Falls, with more possibly arriving in coming days, according to Jo Zambito, chief of the Niagara Falls Fire Department. While the city is proud to help fellow Canadians during a crisis, Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati urged the federal and provincial governments to consider alternative accommodations as peak tourism season approaches. Indigenous leaders in Manitoba have criticized both federal and provincial governments for inadequate communication and delays in delivering requested resources during the wildfire crisis, while Pukatawagan residents recounted a chaotic and frightening evacuation. Videos shared by residents with Reuters showed military and civilian helicopters buzzing back and forth over the remote community of roughly 3,000 people, landing on the school field as thick wildfire smoke enveloped the area and flames inched nearer, and dozens of people huddled inside a Chinook military helicopter. At one point, a pilot warned Garry and 100 others waiting to board that the fire was only half a kilometer away and being pushed closer by the wind. 'To tell you the truth, it's... It's scary. Not for myself, but for everybody else. Especially children,' Garry said, in tears while speaking at the hotel the federal government is housing him in. Garry, a manager at the local airfield, left all his belongings behind except for a few sets of clothing and was briefly separated from two of his daughters and their children. His 50-person extended family was later reunited in Niagara Falls. Vanessa Hart, 43, a stay-at-home mother from Pukatawagan who was evacuated to Niagara Falls, said that despite repeated pleas from their chief and council, help did not arrive for three to four days. She believes a faster evacuation could have prevented significant distress. 'They didn't come and help right away,' Hart said. Indigenous Services Canada, which managed the evacuation, said emergency response is a shared responsibility and first response is generally up to local authorities. 'The Government of Canada is working alongside First Nation partners, as well as provincial and territorial counterparts, and continues to closely monitor the rapidly evolving wildfire situation across the country,' the agency said in a statement. Manitoba's government said in an email that smoky conditions near Pukatawagan early in the emergency response prevented water bombers from providing vital air support. 'They (planes) were grounded for all fires in the air support has been used extensively in the north whenever and wherever possible,' it added. A date to return home for the evacuees in Niagara Falls is uncertain and depends on when plane and rail access are restored - possibly in one to two months. Wildfire response in First Nations communities has been 'pretty chaotic,' said Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak. She called for more investment in basic infrastructure such as fire hydrants and fire trucks. 'We need more coordination. And we've been asking for it for decades,' she said. Article by Wa Lone, Kyaw Soe Oo. Additional reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Nia Williams.
CBC
04-06-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Watch as the northern Manitoba wildfires grow
Wildfires have been burning in northern Manitoba since late May, when a province-wide emergency was declared. Watch as CBC Weather Specialist Riley Laychuk tracks the fires threatening the communities of Flin Flon, Sherridon and Pukatawagan.
