Tataskweyak wildfire evacuees in Thompson 'meeting place' hoping to reconnect with family all over
'It's been chaos for everybody here'
Grace Beardy's youngest child was born in Takaskweyak Cree Nation on May 19, Victoria Day. Ten days later, power in the community was out.
The boy was about two weeks old when he became an evacuee.
"It was sad, especially going through postpartum and carrying the little one," Beardy said Wednesday. "I was alone out there with him for four days, until my sister came."
Tataskweyak, also known as Split Lake, declared a state of emergency on May 29, with a wildfire only about a kilometre away from the northern Manitoba First Nation.
Beardy and her three children were among the more than 2,400 Tataskweyak residents forced to leave their homes because of the fire.
WATCH | Tataskweyak evacuees in Thompson:
"There was buses coming in and they were just loading people up," said Melanie Spence, who was in Thompson for a day trip as the evacuation began.
"People were kind of hesitant to go," she said.
"They didn't know how big the fire was going to be there. They were hoping that it [would] be put out every day. We've never seen anything like this."
PR 280 connecting the community to Thompson on the west and Gillam to the east is the only road servicing Tataskweyak. The road was closed off last week because of the fire.
With the way home blocked off, Spence decided to help evacuees who ended up in Thompson, which is about a 100 kilometres southwest of the community, as the crow flies.
She's been directing people to the city's Wawatay Inn, which is owned by Tataskweyak and usually serves people coming for medical appointments.
"It's the closest thing to home," she said. "They serve food here. So I figured, well, this will be … the meeting place."
Duke Beardy, an economic development officer with the First Nation, said the facility is open to evacuees from Tataskweyak as well as other communities.
"There's people from Lynn Lake here too, and Nelson House too.… If there's room, then they stay here too," he said.
But with only 18 rooms, space at the inn is limited.
'It's been chaos'
Sylvia Saunders said about seven people in her party — including a baby and a toddler — were staying in the same room at the inn as of Wednesday.
"It's been chaos for everybody here. Still a lot of people don't have rooms," Saunders said. "I did manage to fit everyone in there and to try and have a comfortable sleep."
Saunders said people have resorted to sleeping in couches at the inn's lobby because of the lack of rooms.
Edwin Beardy said the situation is already stressful enough.
"It's frustrating as well as sad because of family, … they're all over," he said. "From what I'm hearing, my family, some of them are in Gillam, some of them in Winnipeg and a few are in Niagara Falls…. It's hard."
Grace Beardy, who was also staying at the inn as of Wednesday, said she was waiting to connect with family who ended up in Winnipeg.
Leaving the community "was cold and sad," she said.
"But I couldn't be sad in front of my kids. I had to stay strong."
The fire at Tataskweyak was about 21,000 hectares as of the latest provincial fire bulletin Friday.
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.
With files from Brittany Greenslade