Key points
- This is being viewed as a largest evacuation in the region
- Flames are shooting over 121 feet high
- A firefighter was also severely injured in wildfire
ISLAMABAD: Over 17,000 people in Canada’s western Manitoba province were being evacuated on Wednesday as the area experienced its worst start to a wildfire season in years.
“The Manitoba government has declared a province-wide state of emergency due to the wildfire situation,” AFP cited Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew as saying.
Manitoba has declared a province-wide state of emergency to safely evacuate and shelter 17,000 people — the largest wildfire evacuation in recent memory.
To those leaving home: you’re not alone. These measures protect you. We’ll get through this — together. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/sLSU0X06qt
— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) May 29, 2025
“This is the largest evacuation Manitoba will have seen in most people’s living memory,” he said.
🚨 Manitoba has declared a Provincial State of Emergency due to rapidly spreading wildfires.
Evacuation orders are in place in parts of northern and eastern Manitoba.
Stay safe: follow local instructions, avoid backcountry travel, and check road access at https://t.co/t88bT6SFME pic.twitter.com/DYiMws8oZr— Wab Kinew (@WabKinew) May 28, 2025
Kinew said he asked Prime Minister Mark Carney to send in the Canadian military to help with the evacuations and firefighting.
I’ve spoken with Premier @WabKinew and offered Canada’s full support as his province battles wildfires around Flin Flon.
The premier and I are in close contact, and the federal government stands ready to assist Manitoba’s provincial wildfire teams.https://t.co/WV1cgPsgcf
— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) May 29, 2025
AFP reported that military aircraft, Kinew said, would be deployed “imminently” to help move people out of endangered remote northern communities to safety, along with additional firefighting resources.
The evacuations include the town of Flin Flon, where 5,000 residents were told earlier to get ready to flee on a moment’s notice as a major wildfire bore down on the mining town named after a fictional character in a 1905 paperback novel, according to AFP.
Residents of several other remote towns and Indigenous communities have also now been told to leave.
Reception Centre Being Set Up in Winnipeg for Wildfire Evacuees https://t.co/chYrczGP8J pic.twitter.com/Ldjx6mpTSM
— Manitoba Gov News (@MBGovNews) May 29, 2025
Most of the evacuees are likely to be shifted to the Manitoba capital of Winnipeg.
“Flames 121 feet high”
Evacuee Sheryl Matheson said that the wildfires had surrounded her small town of Sherridon, northeast of Flin Flon.
“The flames were shooting over 121 feet high and firefighters couldn’t get close enough to the fire to do anything.”
CBC reported that Elsaida Alerta said that she was having “major anxiety” as she and her family readied to leave Flin Flon, where she has lived for three years.
“Especially for somebody that lived in a big city (previously), that never had to evacuate, this is definitely nerve-wracking,” she said.
The only highway out of Flin Flon still open was jammed with traffic and local petrol stations had run out of gasoline, she said.
“Changing climate”
Premier Kinew said the widespread nature of the fires was cause for alarm.
“For the first time, it’s not a fire in one region, we have fires in every region. That is a sign of a changing climate that we are going to have to adapt to,” Kinew said.
AFP reported that climate change has increased the impact of extreme weather events in Canada.
For the first time, it’s not a fire in one region, we have fires in every region. That is a sign of a changing climate that we are going to have to adapt to.” – Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew
About 1,000 residents of Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb First Nation in Manitoba and 4,000 people from the northern village of Pelican Narrows and other communities in neighboring Saskatchewan had already been evacuated earlier in the week.
A firefighter was also severely injured when he was struck by a falling tree while battling blazes. He was being treated in hospital, Kinew said.
