The mayor of Flin Flon, Man., says fierce, shifting winds are threatening to propel a nearby raging wildfire into the city and begin burning structures.
George Fontaine says the situation is, in his words, “looking very ugly” and that if they don’t get some help the fire will begin taking chunks out of the city of 5,000.
All residents of the remote northwestern municipality were ordered out earlier this week ahead of a wildfire that began over the boundary in Saskatchewan but is now menacing Flin Flon on its northern perimeter.
The city has directed all remaining residents to be out before noon, with buses taking those who don’t have shelter to Winnipeg.
Winnipeg has opened up public buildings for evacuees as it deals with hotels already crammed with other fire refugees and conventiongoers.
Manitoba is having one of its worst fire years in recent memory, with blazes forcing about 17,000 people from their homes, most of them in the remote north.
Fires across the Prairies
Crews will face hot, dry conditions with the odd chance of rain today as they try to put down wildfires that have forced thousands out of their homes from Alberta to Manitoba.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba have declared provincewide states of emergency to deal with the fires, most of which are scorching pockets of rural communities in remote northern regions.
Manitoba has seen 17,000 residents forced out in recent days, including 6,000 in and around the northwest city of Flin Flon.
In Saskatchewan, more than 4,000 people have fled the flames, including more than 2,000 in Pelican Narrows.
Alberta, which has taken the brunt of wildfire damage in recent years, has been comparatively better off.
But the 900 residents of Chateh in the northwestern corner of the province have been forced out by a wildfire that’s burning about 10 kilometres away from the community.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025.
