Royal Canadian Air Force Major Melissa Gear helps evacuees Kristin Munroe and her 5-year-old son Kolten in Norway House, Man., Tuesday.David Lipnowski/The Canadian Press
As harrowing wildfires encroach either side of his northern Manitoba community, the chief of Pimicikamak Cree Nation says his only option these days is to pray for some relief.
David Monias has watched the air in his traditional territory mutate from tints of yellow to an ominous reddish brown over the last week. Beset by fires spreading from island to island near Cross Lake, he has waved goodbye to hundreds of Pimicikamak members fleeing on military planes, helicopters, ferries, buses and shuttles – including many of his own family.
“So many of my people are leaving the reserves for the first time ever. None of us know when they can come back,” Mr. Monias told The Globe and Mail. “Without any rain on the horizon, we have no idea when any of this will end.”
More than 200 wildfires were burning across the country Tuesday, with at least 104 deemed out of control and 14 that had started from the day prior.
Smoke from wildfires burning in three provinces is spreading into the U.S. Upper Midwest, stirring memories of the severe pollution that drifted south from Canada two years ago during its worst fire season on record.
Reuters
The flames ran rampant mostly in Western Canada, where Manitoba and Saskatchewan have now ordered evacuations for around 30,000 people, many in larger towns and cities, with both provinces under states of emergency.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the number of evacuees is going to significantly increase this week, telling reporters in Prince Albert: “We are in the fight for our very communities.”
Having lived his whole life in the affected region, Mr. Moe became emotional explaining the severity of the situation.
“I’ve never seen anything, like, in the way of the ferocity of the fires, how quickly they’re moving, how they’re changing,” he said. “Every few days, the wind shifts direction and threatens a community in a different way.”
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The province is contending with 21 active wildfires, eight of which are uncontained, with 230 recorded this year – well over its five-year annual average of 132.
Officials from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said wildfire behaviour has been so extreme since Monday that crews have had to stop firefighting efforts repeatedly, at times fleeing for their own safety.
The number of displaced people in Saskatchewan reached at least 9,000 registered residents by Tuesday.
On top of that, the Premier said around 7,000 people surrounding the town of La Ronge, Sask., its nearby airport and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band are being evacuated this week – adding to the 8,000 other people who have already been asked to vacate their properties.
“They aren’t just buildings. These are places where they have raised their family,” he said, as officials estimated more than 400 structures have been destroyed. “Many families are leaving their home and they don’t know if they’re going to see it again.”
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Saskatchewan is preparing to send evacuees to other provinces as needed.
In Manitoba, around 18,000 people have now been evacuated. The province is responding to 27 active wildfires, with a risk of more to come later in the week.
Large arenas and soccer fields in Winnipeg have been converted into shelters, with other emergency spaces also set up in Brandon, Thompson, Portage la Prairie and Winkler, Man.
But as Manitoba struggles to find lodgings, hundreds of evacuees are being sent more than 2,000 kilometres away to Niagara Falls, Ont. – including from Pimicikamak, Mathias Colomb Cree Nation and other smaller communities near Pukatawagan and The Pas.
The Royal Canadian Air Force helps load cargo.David Lipnowski/The Canadian Press
“There is a lot of culture shock,” Mr. Monias said Tuesday. “The fact that people had to be packed up and go off so far away for beds is ridiculous.”
Back home in Pimicikamak, the chief has seen the severe damage around the islands from a helicopter and said he has been pleading for the federal and provincial governments to send more personnel and equipment.
“I’ve been begging for more firefighting resources. Right now, we literally only have one fire truck and barely any water pumps,” Mr. Monias said. “Our bureaucratic process moves too slow for a crisis like this, and it feels like saving our homes here doesn’t matter.”
Kurtis Ferland, who arrived in Niagara Falls from Pukatawagan on the weekend, said he is just grateful for a warm bed and meal.
“I was able to bring really nothing with me,” he said Tuesday. “But being able to sleep in peace is all I could ever ask for.”
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre spokesperson Awa Cissé confirmed Tuesday that between 140 to 150 firefighters from the United States will arrive this week, expected to be primarily in Manitoba and Alberta.
Grappling with more than 50 active wildfires, Alberta has called back its own firefighters this week, many of whom were previously being sent to other parts of the country. The province has evacuated around 5,000 people.
In British Columbia, meanwhile, there were at least 68 wildfires Tuesday, with one evacuation order triggered around the Kiskatinaw River area near the B.C.-Alberta border, and another wildfire north of Fort Nelson shutting down the Alaska Highway. Officials expect more fires in the southeast and northeast regions.
With a report from Emily Haws in Ottawa