An RCMP check point on HWY 313 north Lac du Bonnet marks the beginning of a mandatory evacutation zone due to wildfires on May 15, 2025.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
A bouquet of flowers sits on a red bench in front of the Mrs. Lucci’s Resource Centre in Lac du Bonnet, Man., the café and used houseware store that Sue Nowell called her second home.
The charming, kind, outgoing mother of three loved to work there. She cracked jokes with her co-workers and got excited about new menu items, like dill-pickle soup and Big Mac quesadillas.
Ms. Nowell and her husband, Richard, enjoyed their slow life in cottage country. The couple’s death this week in an out-of-control wildfire, which continues to burn more than 4,000 hectares near Lac du Bonnet, has devastated their community.
Known to most people as Rich or Richie, Mr. Nowell was a beloved employee at Manitoba Hydro for 36 years. Together, they explored the area around their eastern riverside town on off days, occasionally venturing across the southern border to the United States for a concert, like the P!nk show they saw for Ms. Nowell’s birthday two Augusts ago.
RCMP said Thursday that although autopsies for the pair have not yet been completed, it is believed they died of injuries sustained from the fire.
Police first learned that a man and a woman were trapped in the area on Tuesday, said Superintendent Chris Hastie, commander of Manitoba RCMP’s East District. But emergency personnel could not reach them because of dangerous conditions until Wednesday morning, when two bodies were discovered.
A bouquet of flowers with a note reading 'We’ll miss you Sue' sits on a bench in front of Lucci’s Too in Lac du Bonnet, Man., on May 15, 2025. A sign on the door reads 'Closed Thursday & Friday for compassionate leave.'Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
Three family members of the Nowells confirmed to The Globe and Mail that they died because of the wildfire, though requested privacy to process the news.
Melayni Schwab said Ms. Nowell, whom she described as her dear friend, was trapped with her husband in their rural family property because the fire spread rapidly.
Two of their sons, Emmett and Ryland, also lived with the couple, Ms. Schwab said. She added that while Ryland wasn’t home, Emmett and his girlfriend were there, though they were able to escape with some injuries.
On Tuesday morning, Ms. Nowell had posted two photos to Facebook that she took on the Lac du Bonnet town dock near her work. They showed a large plume of smoke across the water. “Not sure where it is but looks close,” she wrote.
Ms. Schwab said she was heartbroken when she saw that it was Ms. Nowell’s last post on social media. “We will do what we can to take care of those sweet boys, whose beautiful parents left them too soon,” she said.
The two Mrs. Lucci’s locations in town – both places where Ms. Nowell had worked, providing cupcakes from the kitchen to the nearby library – have been closed until the weekend “due to compassionate leave,” according to a handwritten sign on their doors.
Loren Schinkel, the reeve of Lac du Bonnet, said it will take some time before a vigil or memorial is planned for the Nowells, whom he called a staple in the rural municipality.
“It‘s going to take some time because the community is still grieving.”
A sign on the door of Lucci’s Too in Lac du Bonnet, Man., reads 'Closed Thursday & Friday for compassionate leave,' on May 15, 2025.Shannon VanRaes/The Globe and Mail
At the provincial legislature, where flags have been lowered to half-mast and a moment of silence was held during Thursday‘s house sitting, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew offered his condolences to the families and friends of the victims.
“This loss of life changes what was an emergency into a tragedy,” he said.
Prime Minister Mark Carney also offered his sympathies. “This tragedy is heartbreaking, especially for such a close-knit community,” he wrote in a social-media post late Wednesday night.
The province declared a state of emergency later on Thursday near Whiteshell Provincial Park, south of where the Nowells were killed.
More than 1,000 Manitobans have been evacuated from their homes, as the province contends with 21 active wildfires in multiple areas, with a total of 80 recorded this season – nearly double the 20-year average of 48 fires for this time of the year.
Mr. Kinew said the coming May long weekend will require vigilance. “Any fire that goes out of control, even in an area that‘s not dealing with wildfire, could potentially pull resources away from the front lines where we urgently need help,” he told reporters at a news conference in the legislature.
The cause of the wildfire in Lac du Bonnet, listed in the province’s frequently updated 2025 FireView map as human-related, is under investigation, said Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister for the Manitoba Wildfire and Conservation Officer services.
The BC Wildfire Service has sent 40 firefighters to assist Manitoba, Ms. Hayward said Thursday. The province has also requested an additional 80 firefighters through the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre on Wednesday.
Mr. Kinew said the declaration of a state of emergency near Whiteshell, located close to a cluster of cottages and campsites, will allow park officials to wield additional powers, including to enforce evacuations. The park has at least 239 permanent residences.
In Lac du Bonnet, the community centre has been turned into an evacuation registration site for people displaced by the fire. Nearby, several local businesses, such as Lake Life Powersports, have opened their parking lots to allow for evacuees to park their RVs and trailers. The local dental clinic in the small town is handing out food, toothbrushes, toothpaste and toys for kids.
“There are a ton of people stepping up – not just on the front line, but also just by being good hosts and showing that friendly Manitoban hospitality right now," the Premier said.
The number of evacuees is likely to rise because not everyone has registered with the province yet, Mr. Kinew said. He requested that people displaced by the wildfires complete their registrations in order to receive appropriate social-welfare services.
In addition to local evacuees, Manitoba is also playing host to about 1,200 people evacuated from northwestern Ontario.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 98 active wildfires burning across Canada, according to the Forest Fire Centre. That includes 28 in B.C., mostly in the northeast of the province, and 18 in Ontario.
A fire ban on all open-air burning, including campfires, begins Friday in northwestern Ontario, while fire restrictions have already begun in the Cariboo and Northwest fire centres in B.C.
In Manitoba, full campfire bans are being implemented at all eastern and central region provincial parks, the province said. Both inside and outside the parks, a full fire ban and backcountry travel restrictions will take effect Friday.