Whiteshell Provincial Park closing due to extreme fire conditions
All access to be restricted starting at 9 a.m. Thursday, park users must leave by 1 p.m.: province
Whiteshell Provincial Park will close to the public on Thursday as firefighters work to control a wildfire that forced evacuations in the southeastern Manitoba area earlier this week.
In a Wednesday news release, the province said access to the park will be restricted starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, and continuing until at least May 21.
The closure is expected to remain in effect until the extreme fire conditions improve.
On Thursday morning, access will be restricted to cottage subdivisions and campgrounds, along with commercial, group and day use areas. Recreational areas including trails, beaches, backcountry areas, canoe routes and campsites will also be under the restricted access.
All park users, including full-time residents and cottagers, must leave the park by 1 p.m. Thursday, the province said.
It's asking full-time residents to register with Manitoba Parks staff at their nearest reception centre: Whiteshell Community Club, Rennie Community Club or Eastman Snopals Garage.
Any permanent residents who can't register in person can call 204-340-6769.
Cottagers and campers are not required to register.
Anyone with reservations over this period, which includes the Victoria Day long weekend, will be contacted by the parks reservation service, the province said.
Cottagers fled the area Tuesday after the province issued an evacuation order due to the out-of-control wildfire along the Ontario border, near Ingolf. As of Wednesday afternoon, that fire had grown to more than 23,000 hectares, according to the province of Ontario's fire map.
The province of Manitoba told CBC News Wednesday that Highway 1 remains open in the area.
Long weekend closure a financial hit: businesses
Business owners in the park say the closure over the Victoria Day long weekend — one of the busiest, and most profitable, times of the season — could cost them thousands of dollars.
Shaun Harbottle, who owns Crescent Beach Cottages and Motel at West Hawk Lake, near the Ontario border, called the evacuation order a "knee-jerk reaction."
"The financial impact is huge. We're going into May long weekend. I get the weather's not good, but we're Manitobans, everybody still goes out for May long weekend, no matter what the weather — whether it's pouring rain, whether it's snow, people still come out," he said.
Harbottle told CBC News Wednesday afternoon that the Ingolf fire was still some distance away from his resort business and questioned the government's call to evacuate the entire park.
Despite the blow to business over a key weekend, some resort owners in the Whiteshell's north end said the province was right to be cautious and close the park to the public.
DJ Seales, president of the North Whiteshell Business Association and owner of the Barrier Bay Resort, said the evacuation was "a good call" due to local weather conditions.
"It's so dry out here … you feel like pine needles that just crack," said Seales.
"Once a flame hits that, there's no stopping it," he said. "Fires out here can turn on a dime."
He had to cancel upcoming reservations for all nine cabins at the resort, which had been fully booked for the long weekend.
He estimates the closure could cost his business tens of thousands of dollars.
But after RCMP confirmed Wednesday two people died after being trapped as the wildfire burned near Lac du Bonnet, Seales said he understands the province's decision.
"Unfortunately, there was a big tragedy in Lac du Bonnet, and I think the province said we don't want this happening again," he said.
In addition to the Whiteshell closure, previously announced closures remain in effect for Nopiming, Pinawa Dam, Poplar Bay, Wallace Lake, South Atikaki and Manigotagan River provincial parks due to local states of emergency, the province said. These parks will also remain closed until conditions improve.
Updates on the closures and information on fire restrictions in provincial parks can be found on the province's website.
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With files from Tessa Adamski and Caroline Barghout