Residents forced out by grass fire in Traverse Bay can return home

Hundreds of residents forced out of the Traverse Bay area on Saturday can now return home after fire crews contained a blaze ravaging through hectares of mostly Crown land.

The fire began spreading at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday in the municipality of Alexander, a beach community located about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg on Lake Winnipeg's southern shore.

Strong winds fanned the flames, engulfing trees and burning roughly 60 hectares, said Gisèle Smith, the municipality's chief administrative officer. 

"This happens every year this time of year between April and May before we get the rains and the green," Smith said. 

Local fire crews began tackling the blaze at around 5:15 p.m., but as the fire grew out of control and there were strong winds at the time, residents located between Sunrise Road at Traverse Bay Road North, toward Lake Winnipeg, and Traverse Bay Road East at Pitt Road were asked to evacuate. 

Roughly 300 people left their homes on Saturday, Smith said, but all those who registered with the municipality had their own accommodations and didn't need help to find shelter. 

Among those who evacuated was Lisa Zimmerman. While driving along the highway on Saturday she saw a plume of black billowing from the fire. Not long after "it was like you could breathe it in," she said. 

"It has been very chaotic and very stressful … something I never want to experience again," Zimmerman told Radio-Canada. 

Still "everybody pulled together, lots of social media [posts], people checking in on one another, everybody getting the word out," she added. 

Crews remained on site overnight putting out the blaze, with the help of helicopters that sprayed water over the land that had caught fire. 

By Sunday morning, Smith said the blaze was held and the evacuation order was lifted just before 10 a.m. 

It is unclear how the fire started or how close it got to homes and buildings in the area, but no structures were affected. No injuries were also reported, Smith said. 

Still, fires in the municipality are a "big concern," she said, especially on the beach side, where there are several trees that died after being affected by pine beetles.

"We're currently working on a community wildfire protection plan to try and address these issues," she said. 

The municipality has declared a local state of emergency, which will remain in effect. A fire ban is also in place.