Wildfires could start as early as this weekend in Manitoba due to dry conditions officials say
Manitoba's wildfire services warns amid rising temperatures and drought conditions, flames could spark as early as the weekend. That's causing concern for one First Nation community still reeling from last year's wildfire fight.
The memories of the towering flames that cut off Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) are still fresh in the mind of Chief David Monias.
"I see the fire 100 feet in the air, all the embers flying towards our community," he said.
The wildfire cut off his community last May, forcing a massive emergency evacuation.
"We had to evacuate people 7,000 people in three hours," he said. "We were left to fend for ourselves, and a lot of times that's what happens, is that nobody is coming and running to save us."
Monias is worried it may happen again, and he's looking to the province for help.
"We just need to be better equipped. Right now, we have one fire truck in a community of 8,000 people," he told CTV News. "We need better resources. We need water and sewer (systems), so we can have fire hydrants."
This year the province has upped its spending for wildfire protection.
Manitoba is budgeting $8 million, which will cover the cost of five initial attack trucks used to transport crews to fire sites, and provide upgrades and new bunkhouses at wildfire program base stations across the province.
"These are the steps we're taking to make sure we're prepared for fire season in Manitoba," said Jamie Moses, Manitoba's minister of economic development, investment, trade and natural resources.
Those dollars may be put to use sooner than expected.
"By this coming weekend, we could expect to start getting some fires," Earl Simmons, the acting director of the Manitoba Wildfire Service told CTV News.
He said Manitoba typically sees more than 400 wildfires burning 250,000 hectares each year.
"Going into the spring, typically we find most of our fires are human-caused," Simmons said.
This year could be a busier year for the wildfire service, as much of the prairies remain in drought conditions according to Canada's Drought Monitor.
"Some of the predictions we're getting this year, because of the drought situation we went into last fall, is concerning. Especially on the west side of the province up towards the northwest corner."
It's an area that comes too close for comfort for Monias. He said, should flames threaten his community again, he wants the province to step up.
"Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst. We have to do that, I mean there's so many lives at stake," he said.
Moses said he welcomes conversations with First Nations, and said the province wants to work with them.
"We've been working very collaboratively with northern communities who are the most impacted by wildfires. So we welcome those sorts of conversations that would enable us to protect Manitobans and do our part to fight against wildfires," he said.
If you see a wildfire, you can call 911 or the wildfire tip line at 1-800-782-0076.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.