South Whiteshell Provincial Park cottagers flee as fire spreads from Ontario border

Cottagers in parts of Whiteshell Provincial Park were scrambling to pack their belongings Tuesday after an out-of-control wildfire along the Ontario border prompted the province to issue an evacuation notice for the southern area. 

The fire started burning Monday afternoon on the south side of Longpine Lake at Ingolf, Ont., and has since spread across the border. Water bombers from Ontario's fire service have been collecting water from West Hawk Lake and dropping it onto the flames.

Samuel Klass said Manitoba's evacuation notice ordering southern Whiteshell cottagers to evacuate before 5 p.m. Tuesday happened quicker than he expected. He drove to his cottage located on the north side of West Hawk Lake, which has been in the family since 1954, and grabbed family photos, heirlooms, fishing gear and other meaningful items.

"I showed up thinking that I was going to be getting ahead of an evacuation order, but it came rather quickly," adding that he only had an hour to grab things and go.

"I would like not to assume that the worst is going to happen but it's pretty threatening."

The evacuation notice includes the north side of West Hawk Lake, Caddy Lake and Florence and Nora Lake. A number of camping sites and trails in Whiteshell Provincial Park are closed, including the Mantario Trail, Hunt Lake, Lost Lake, Whiteshell River, Big Whiteshell hiking and mountain bike trails.

Klass said the wind had been blowing heavily from the south which seemed to make the smoke less visible, but when it let up, there was a large plume of black smoke coming over Misty Bay on Tuesday.

For now, he is crossing his fingers that the wildfire won't reach his cabin.

The size of the fire is an estimated 8,000 hectares, according to fire information officer Chris Marchand with the Aviation, Forest Fire and Emergency Services in Ontario. 

"It continues to be a hot, dry and windy, which is a real recipe for extreme fire behaviour, especially at a time when we haven't seen any meaningful precipitation for probably a week and a half," he said.

Marchand said it is unknown what started the fire, but an investigation is in place. There is not a fire ban in the area, he said.

Arlene Hryckiw and her mother, who's a year-round resident living on the north side of West Hawk Lake, left the area on Monday evening. 

"Before the [Ontario Provincial Police] came to tell us of the mandatory evacuation, we had already started loading stuff into the boat."

When Hryckiw and her mother left on the boat, which they use to access their cabin remotely, the said the first thought running through her head was, "I should have grabbed more stuff."

"Fingers crossed that our place doesn't go … we just have to wait," she said. 

Hryckiw described the horizon on Monday evening as a "solid wall of red flames" that was very scary. She could see the fire being spread by the wind and could hear loud 'banging' sounds of what she believed was propane tanks exploding.

"I feel so bad for everybody that's lost everything. [For] a lot of people, that's their home," she said in relation to cottagers in Ontario.

She said sprinklers may be put around cottages closest to the fire to avoid going up in flames.

South Whiteshell cottagers under the evacuation order are being told to check in at a reception centre that's been set up at the West Hawk Lake fire hall. North Whiteshell cottagers are to check in at the Rennie District Office.