Officials call on the military as unprecedented wildfires sweep across all regions of the province.
More than 17,000 people in Canada’s western province of Manitoba were evacuated on Wednesday following the worst wildfire season start the region has seen in years.
“The government of Manitoba has declared a province-wide state of emergency due to the wildfire situation,” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew announced at a press conference.
“This is the largest evacuation Manitoba has seen in recent history,” he added.
Kinew said he had asked Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to authorize the deployment of the Canadian military to assist with evacuations and firefighting efforts. He noted that military aircraft would be “imminently” dispatched to help transport residents from endangered remote northern communities to safety, alongside additional firefighting resources.
Evacuations include the city of Flin Flon, where 5,000 residents were earlier told to be ready to flee immediately as a major wildfire approached the historic mining town, named after a fictional character from a 1905 dime novel.
Residents of several other remote towns and Indigenous communities have also been ordered to leave.
Most evacuees are expected to be relocated to Winnipeg, Manitoba’s capital.
‘Climate change’ impact
“For the first time, it’s not just a fire in one region, but fires in all regions. This is a sign of climate change that we will need to adapt to,” Kinew stated.
Twenty-two active wildfires were burning in the province on Wednesday.
Nearly 200,000 hectares of forest have been scorched in just the past month — triple the five-year annual average — according to Kirstin Hayward of Manitoba’s wildfire service.
“Manitoba is seeing the most wildfire activity in Canada so far this year, partly due to a prolonged period of warm, dry conditions,” she said.
Climate change has amplified the effects of extreme weather events across Canada.
Earlier this week, nearly 1,000 residents from Lynn Lake and the Marcel Colomb First Nation in Manitoba, as well as 4,000 people from the northern village of Pelican Narrows and other communities in neighboring Saskatchewan, were already evacuated.
One firefighter was seriously injured after being struck by a falling tree while battling the flames and is receiving hospital treatment, Kinew reported.
The premier previously noted that hotels in Winnipeg were already full with wildfire evacuees and visitors attending events.
“We are going to reach out to other people in the community — not necessarily private homes, but businesses and communities across the province — to potentially open their doors” to displaced residents, he said.
Emergency shelters were also being set up.
Earlier this month, two residents of the small community of Lac du Bonnet died after being trapped in a large wildfire northeast of Winnipeg.
In 2023, Canada’s worst wildfire season on record, the only reported fatalities were among firefighters.
Currently, there are 134 active wildfires across Canada, including in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. Half of them are considered out of control.
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