Stretch of rainy, cooler days may end in parts of Manitoba fighting wildfires
2nd wave of wildfires triggered provincewide state of emergency last week for 2nd time since May
With recent cooler weather — accompanied by rain in some areas — there was no word of additional evacuations as of Tuesday afternoon as thousands of Manitobans remain out of their home communities due to wildfires.
The 13,000 residents of Thompson were still being told to be ready to evacuate if necessary as the forecast called for drier weather and strong winds.
The Canadian Red Cross was already housing evacuees in Winnipeg Tuesday.
It also had cots at the ready in a cavernous room inside the RBC Convention Centre in the city's downtown should more evacuees arrive.
The building can house thousands and officials say it has additional space for support services.
"The building is large enough to be able to host a number of community partners and also provide culturally safe spaces for elders to do ceremonies," said Melanie Soler, the group's vice-president of emergency management.
Manitoba is experiencing its worst wildfire season in 30 years, and more than 10,000 square kilometres has burned.
Fires remained out of control near evacuated communities such as Lynn Lake, Marcel Colomb First Nation, Garden Hill First Nation and Leaf Rapids.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday convened a meeting of the incident response group, made up of cabinet ministers and senior officials, to discuss the wildfire situation in Manitoba and elsewhere in the country.
"The group discussed the federal government's support to Manitoba, including the Canadian Armed Forces' airlift evacuations of over 1,500 residents of Garden Hill First Nation," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.
It said Carney and federal officials are in close contact with their provincial counterparts and that co-ordination with First Nations leaders is ongoing.