Manitoba premier hints at using emergency powers to open up hotel rooms for wildfire evacuees

Manitoba's premier says his government could use emergency powers to free up hotel rooms for people who escaped the wildfires still raging in the province's north.

Premier Wab Kinew told reporters Thursday the province along with partners in the hotel industry have opened thousands of rooms for the more than 21,000 people who've fled the fires — but that there are still many families sleeping on cots weeks after the government declared a provincewide state of emergency.

"We have emergency powers. We've been very restrained in how we're using them and we don't want to use them," he said, calling on hotel operators sitting on rooms to voluntarily open them up for evacuees.

"For those operators of hotels who aren't stepping up, we need to see more," he said. "We all know that there's more rooms out there that we could be tapping into."

The premier made the remarks after landing in Winnipeg following a trip to the front lines of the battle against the largest wildfire currently raging in the province.

For his final stop, Kinew toured the congregate shelter that's been set up to welcome evacuees in Thompson, about 650 kilometres north of Winnipeg as the crow flies.

It's "pulling at the heartstrings when we see families with kids sleeping on cots in a hockey rink," he said.

"There's rooms in Thompson people could be accessing and I'd like to see those opened up. There's rooms in other parts of the province.… We're not talking about forever here."

Some First Nations leadership have been urging the province to free up the hotel rooms for evacuees.

WATCH | Province takes over security at Winnipeg evacuee shelter amid safety concerns:

Province takes over shelter security after wildfire evacuee safety concerns

2 days ago

Duration 2:38

Safety concerns have prompted the Manitoba government to take over security at a congregate shelter in Winnipeg for people fleeing from the 21 active wildfires in the province. Meanwhile, officials say rain and cooler weather have helped to fight the fires, but hotter, drier weather is raising the fire danger.

Last week, Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias wrote a letter calling on the government to use emergency measures to make the rooms available.

Kinew said he hasn't heard feedback from any hotels declining to host evacuees, but that the province has "a lot of data" about the rooms that are currently occupied.

"I feel confident saying we know that there's more that some in the hotel sector can do," he said.

Flin Flon 'like a scene out of a movie': premier

The premier started Thursday's tour in Bakers Narrows — where firefighters are staging their response to the fire threatening the city of Flin Flon and other communities. 

The province's largest fire was 307,780 hectares as of the latest fire bulletin Thursday afternoon.

"What really strikes me is that we're in a helicopter there with somebody who's been in the Manitoba Wildfire Service for decades, and they say you'd have a big fire, you know, once every eight years or so," Kinew said.

"Now, it's every single year we're getting these massive blazes and they're happening earlier and it's going later into the year."

After Bakers Narrows, the premier went into Flin Flon, where roughly 5,000 people have been forced out of their homes.

The city is about 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

"If you've ever been to Flin Flon, it's a city like many others in Manitoba," Kinew said, noting the usually busy streets are now deserted. "You go there right now, it's like a scene out of a movie."

Kinew said he met firefighters from all over the province in Flin Flon, including volunteers using their vacation time to help out, as well as recently trained First Nations firefighters. He also said he met people coming from the U.S. and thanked them for stepping up.

The crews have "held this huge, massive wildfire at bay. The biggest wildfire that we can recall being on their doorstep, and they've done it by working together," he said. "It's amazing just to see the co-operation to protect such an iconic city."

Find the latest wildfire information at these sources:

• Canadian wildfire map
• Province of Manitoba fire bulletins
• CBC's wildfire tracker
• Communities under evacuations in Manitoba

Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.

Premier tours northern Manitoba wildfire zone

2 days ago

Duration 1:41

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew got an aerial view of parts of northwestern Manitoba devastated by wildfires in recent weeks. He also met with those involved in the firefighting effort around Flin Flon and visited a congregate shelter in Thompson.