Flin Flon mayor asks evacuees for patience but says return home is in the works
George Fontaine says it's 'miraculous' the city of 5,000 has been saved
As nearby communities start to reopen and welcome back people who fled Manitoba wildfires, Flin Flon's mayor is asking evacuees from that city for a little more patience.
"Don't expect to go back before a week from now, and that's not saying you're going back in a week, but that would be your bare minimum," George Fontaine said Monday morning.
"Whether it takes a week or 10 days or 12 days or whatever, you know you've got your home. Your lawn will be a little longer.… You're going to have to catch up on some things, throw some things out of your fridge. But you're going back and you're going back to a house, which, when we left, I didn't expect."
The vast majority of the city of about 5,000 in northwestern Manitoba was cleared out May 28. Some members of city council and some civic employees remained to monitor things and give updates on social media.
But two days later they had to get out, too, leaving only emergency responders behind.
At that time, Fontaine said he was bracing for the worst and for the city to be ravaged by fire in the way Jasper, Alta., was last summer.
As of Monday, there was still no damage to any structures within Flin Flon, Fontaine said.
"That's miraculous from when I left. It's amazing what they've been able to do, because when I look at the fire maps, we've been surrounded at different times on each corner of our community, and yet they managed to push it back," he said.
There have been power outages as power poles burned, but the front-line crews have kept critical assets like water and sewer services functioning the entire time, Fontaine said.
"Everybody is dying to get back into their places, and I understand that. Their patience is waning. We have some people that are not very pleased at all, and I'm getting those comments as well. I can't change how they feel," he said.
"They feel like they should just be able to slip back in, and it just doesn't work like that. Whether they have a patient bone in their body or not, they'll still have to be patient."
Some other evacuated communities in the region — Snow Lake, Sherridon, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake) and even Cranberry Portage, which is just 35 kilometres from Flin Flon — have either returned or are in the process of doing so.
"I see a lot of smiles, a lot of handshakes and hugs being given," said Pimicikamak Chief David Monias, who watched people from his community board buses at a Winnipeg Holiday Inn on Monday.
The buses were set to take them back to their home, 520 kilometres north of Winnipeg. There were also several charter flights booked, Monias said.
"Winnipeg's a great place for us to be at but for us, home is like nothing you can replace. It's a big relief [to go back]."
The fire peaked at about 65,000 hectares and many evacuees have been out since May 28.
"It's not out yet, we're not out of the woods. But it's safe [to go back]. I think we can manage it," Monias said.
One of those heading back home was Andrews McKay, who was uprooted to Winnipeg and watched from afar as images surfaced online of the flames nearly wrapping around the community.
"It's crazy to see that. Heartbreaking," he said, then added, "I'm happy to go home today, very excited. It was a nice experience out here [but] … can't wait to be home at Cross Lake."
Monias said he expects it to take 4-5 days for the entire community of 7,800 to get back home.
Hudbay Minerals says it has restarted operations at its Snow Lake mine.
It had wound down work two weeks ago and only essential personnel remained on site to help with emergencies.
The company's Lalor mine resumed activities on the weekend and the New Britannia one is expected to ramp up to full production this week.
It hopes to get the Stall mill, which does base metal processing, going next week. Many workers there are still affected by evacuation orders around Flin Flon.
Fontaine understands it might be difficult for Flin Flon residents to see others going back, but said "their conditions are different."
Cranberry Portage, for instance, experienced a large fire last year, and it created a buffer for this fire, he said.
"We do not have that buffer. We still have fresh fuel around us."
The massive fire in that part of the province was 370,780 hectares in size when the figure was last updated on Friday and still listed as out of control. Reduced winds and cooler temperatures have aided fire crews, but there's been little to no rain, Fontaine said.
The area was forecast to receive 20 millimetres on the weekend and got about one millimetre, said an update on the City of Flin Flon's Facebook page.
The active fire line is 82 kilometres long but has been pushed back enough from Flin Flon that a re-entry plan can be started.
A handful of those involved in critical businesses and essential services have begun to re-enter in order to clean, restock and ensure everything is in place, the Facebook page said.
Things deemed critical include pharmacies, the hospital, grocery stores, gas stations, banks, police and emergency medical services.
"It's going to take some days," Fontaine said. "[The public] can't rush back. It's just too many people involved, [and] it's just not ready."
In the meantime, drones are being used to identify any hot spots, Monias said.
When the community does return, a welcome centre will be set up at the Whitney Forum, with hygiene kits and food supplies available, along with public health teams, insurance teams and mental health services, the city's Facebook page said.
As of June 16, there has been a total of 120 wildfires in Manitoba this year to date, with 901,185 hectares burned, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre said.
The Canadian Red Cross says it had registered more than 21,500 evacuees from more than 9,000 households this fire season.
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With files from Meaghan Ketcheson and Gavin Axelrod