Premier vows to review Manitoba's response to province's worst wildfire season in 30 years

Manitoba's premier says the government will broadly review this year's wildfire season to see whether changes could be made, like lengthening runways for aircraft in remote communities or figuring out other shelter possibilities for evacuees.

The province is experiencing its worst wildfire season in 30 years, with more than 10,000 square kilometres of land burned so far. There have been 310 wildfires to date, the province said in a Wednesday fire bulletin, well above the average for this date of 225 fires.

The province is currently responding to 123 active wildfires, including fires that remain out of control near evacuated communities such as Garden Hill, Lynn Lake, Marcel Colomb First Nation and Leaf Rapids.

An internal review is expected once this year's wildfire season is done in order to look at things like the province's wildfire fighting efforts, emergency social services and safety co-ordination, Premier Wab Kinew said at a Wednesday news conference.

A review would also involve consultation with communities, as well as with experts in wildfire fighting, forest management and logistics, Kinew said. The results could be used to help the province's response to other natural disasters beyond wildfires, such as flooding, he said.

One question to be asked by that review is whether there is "another large-scale sheltering opportunity that we need to be able to have access to in Manitoba," Kinew said.

"Or is there a combination of fire mitigation, investment in northern infrastructure — like roads and larger runways that can accommodate Hercules aircraft — that are well suited to a large-scale movement of people that we need to make, in combination with shelter?"

Kinew said the review will also look at whether it's realistic to expect the province to open up hotel rooms when there's a natural disaster, and if so, how the province can help open up more spaces.

The costs and revenue loss resulting from Manitoba's wildfire season this year are estimated to exceed $50 million, the premier said.

"But this is only part way through the season … so we can definitely say it's going to be north of that," he said. "Part of it's going to depend on how long people are out [and] how many resources we need to continue to marshal."

Roughly 12,000 people are currently evacuated because of fires around the province, including about 1,100 evacuees staying in congregate shelters.

Earlier in the wildfire season, Indigenous leaders in Manitoba accused the federal and provincial governments of poor communication, slow responses to resource requests and bureaucratic red tape as fires forced the evacuation of thousands of people in northern First Nations.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives have also questioned whether the province was fully prepared for a wildfire season of this magnitude, and have questioned why Manitoba did not hire an external consultant to review wildfire preparedness.

1,500 evacuated from Garden Hill

The Canadian Armed Forces also said Wednesday that it is ending its wildfire evacuation efforts in northeastern Manitoba, after helping over 1,500 people escape a wildfire near Garden Hill Anisininew Nation.

A week ago, a full evacuation was ordered for Garden Hill due to a wildfire that continues to threaten the community of more than 4,500 people on the north shore of Island Lake, about 475 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. 

Management of wildfire evacuation efforts in Garden Hill were again within the province's capability as of 7:30 p.m. CT Monday, the Department of National Defence said in a news release on Wednesday morning.

The conditions also met the threshold for the military's personnel and equipment to return to their home units, the release said.

Over 1,500 people were evacuated from Garden Hill by the Armed Forces since July 9, the Department of National Defence said.

The number of military personnel involved fluctuated, but over 60 Canadian Armed Forces members were deployed to directly support the operation at its peak, the Department of National Defence said.  Four Hercules aircraft were also used at the height of the operation.

In addition to air crews, the military personnel involved included teams on the ground, such as a ground control and liaison team, a command team and logistical support.

Helicopters bucketing near Thompson

Meanwhile, helicopters are dropping buckets of water on a wildfire outside northern Manitoba's largest city.

In a Wednesday update posted to Facebook, the City of Thompson said helicopters are bucketing at a wildfire just north of the city, ahead of ground crews working to prevent the fire from spreading.

Fire crews are also fighting hot spots accessible via Provincial Road 280, and more helicopters are bucketing hot spots on the east side of the fire.

Bulldozers have spent the last two days completing another fire guard north of the Thompson Regional Airport, the city said.

An Australian incident management team will oversee the emergency response for the fire burning north of Thompson for "the next little while," the city said.

On Friday, the municipality posted a pre-alert notice on Facebook, saying residents should begin packing essentials so they're ready to go if an evacuation order is made for the city, which is a hub for many services in northern Manitoba.

That pre-alert notice remains in effect, the municipality said Wednesday.