Manitoba again declares provincewide state of emergency as wildfires force new evacuations for thousands
Garden Hill, Snow Lake most recent communities under mandatory evacuation
Manitoba has declared a provincewide state of emergency for the second time this year, as wildfires threatening communities have forced thousands from their homes in recent evacuations.
The state of emergency came into effect at 12:01 p.m. Thursday, after a number of communities declared mandatory evacuation orders in response to wildfires, Premier Wab Kinew said at a news conference.
The province had declared a state of emergency on May 28 that was lifted on June 23.
The current state of emergency will allow the province to access more facilities and shelter evacuees, including ordering the RBC Convention Centre in downtown Winnipeg to provide space for them, Kinew said.
The province is trying to balance the needs of evacuees and the convention centre by planning around an anime event scheduled there for this weekend, he said.
"I don't think we'll need to push," Kinew said at the Manitoba Legislature, saying the convention centre has been "a very good partner" in planning for evacuees.
"The emergency order is more there for legal considerations," he said, noting the centre has bookings throughout the summer.
"So just for them to be able to have flexibility to accommodate our asks, this gives us that tool to be able to work with them," he said.
As of Thursday, nearly 13,000 people were out of their homes due to fire evacuations, provincial officials said.
A site like the convention centre could host up to 7,000 people, said Kinew.
More than 4,000 people are expected to leave Garden Hill Anisininew Nation alone, he said.
The fly-in community, about 475 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, was being evacuated after a wildfire entered the First Nation, leadership said Thursday morning.
Snow Lake, a town with a population of more than 1,000 people almost 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, issued a mandatory evacuation order on Wednesday, with people ordered out by noon Thursday.
The Canadian Armed Forces has been assisting with the Garden Hill evacuation. Hercules and commercial flights were helping to take residents out on Thursday, Kinew said.
The majority of Garden Hill's residents are expected to temporarily relocate to Winnipeg. The province is turning to congregate shelters to host the largest number of people during this round of evacuations as hotel vacancy runs low, Kinew said.
"Hotels are playing ball," he said. "They've made rooms available and we're pretty much maxed out at capacity there in terms of what we can access in the next few days."
In a statement Thursday, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 northern Manitoba First Nations, said congregate shelters are not safe or suitable for elders, young children or those with health concerns. It's asking the province to prioritize evacuees in hotels.
Kinew said available hotel rooms will first go to elders and people with high medical needs.
Meanwhile, an emergency shelter in a soccer complex on Leila Avenue, which was set up earlier in the wildfire season, has been set up again to accommodate evacuees in the coming days.
The City of Winnipeg is also making the Billy Mosienko Arena on Keewatin Street available to host evacuees.
The premier also said Alberta has talked with Manitoba about potentially supporting evacuees, but there are no firm plans at the moment.
"This is a wildfire season that's setting records in all the wrong ways, but Manitobans are responding in all the right ones," Kinew said, asking people to help residents fleeing wildfires during this second round of evacuations.
But he also said wildfires are something everyone will have to learn to contend with.
"The climate is changing, and our society will need to change along with that," the premier said.
Roughly 12,600 evacuees
Three wildfires showing extreme behaviour were burning close to Garden Hill Anisininew Nation on Wednesday before two of the blazes combined, Kristin Hayward, an assistant deputy minister with the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said at the news conference Thursday.
The wildfires are threatening the First Nation's infrastructure, including its fuel tanks, officials said.
"This is an unprecedented and devastating time for our community," Garden Hill Anisininew Nation Chief Dino Flett said in a news release.
"I humbly ask for prayers from all nations and supporters as we face this crisis."
Near the town of Snow Lake, winds were anticipated to fan the blazes from the west, so officials advised the community to evacuate, Hayward said.
Wekusko Falls Provincial Park, about 10 kilometres south of Snow Lake, was also closed by the Manitoba government due to wildfires on Thursday. Updates on park closures around the province are listed on the government's website.
Nine communities in Manitoba are under a mandatory evacuation due to wildfire, with 12 local states of emergency declared as of Thursday, said Christine Stevens, an assistant deputy minister with Manitoba's Emergency Management Organization.
Between the two communities that issued new evacuation orders, about 6,000 Manitobans have fled from their homes in the past 24 hours, Stevens said at the noon hour news conference. Prior to that, roughly 6,600 residents were under evacuations from previous orders, for a total of about 12,600 people evacuated as of Thursday afternoon.
Those who have already left their communities are asked to remain out until evacuation orders are lifted, Stevens said.
Meanwhile, the City of Thompson is pre-registering people as part of its planning for a possible evacuation.
A wildfire near the northern Manitoba city is estimated to be over 10,000 hectares. Officials said a significant thunderstorm moved through the area Wednesday night, helping crews make some progress and shore up protection from a blaze threatening Thompson.
There are 105 active wildfires burning in Manitoba, officials said Thursday.
There have been 261 wildfires to date, exceeding the 20-year average of 197 blazes by this time of year, said Hayward.
Just over a million hectares had burned in Manitoba wildfires as of Tuesday, the latest provincial data said. That's nearly 11 times the 20-year average of 94,000 hectares by this time of year, Hayward said.
"This is the worst year in our 30-year electronic record," she said.
The second-worst wildfire season in those records was in 2013, when 720,000 hectares burned, officials said.
Despite the current wildfire situation, there are no plans to reinstate the province's earlier fire bans at this time, as most blazes have been caused by lightning, Hayward said.
Resources from out of province have arrived in Manitoba to help, including 100 firefighters from Mexico, a seven-person incident management team from New Zealand and 25 personnel from Minnesota, she said.
Find the latest wildfire information:
- Canadian wildfire map.
- Province of Manitoba fire bulletins.
- CBC's wildfire tracker.
- Communities under evacuation in Manitoba.
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.
Corrections
- We initially reported that Garden Hill Anisininew Nation is northwest of Winnipeg. In fact, it is northeast of Winnipeg.Jul 10, 2025 10:39 AM EDT
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With files from Darren Bernhardt