Rain brings relief to some parts of Manitoba but only brushes Lac du Bonnet blaze

Much-needed rain fell in several parts of parched southern Manitoba on Thursday and overnight into Friday, but it only grazed the Lac du Bonnet area, where a wildfire has raged since Monday and claimed the lives of two people.

The storm system brought several small thunderstorms that had widely varying rainfall amounts, said Danielle Desjardins, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

"Unfortunately, the areas closer to the wildfires didn't get as much precipitation as we saw further south and west, especially the Red River Valley and points west," she said.

About 11.5 millimetres fell in Great Falls, just north of the fire in the rural municipality of Lac du Bonnet, which only received 0.1 mm.

Libau, west of the RM, got 47 mm.

The Colorado low that brought the rain isn't quite done with Manitoba yet, so there is still a chance it could help in the firefighting efforts, Desjardins said.

There should be some more shower activity later Friday as the low swings to the east, she said, noting about 10-15 mm is still expected with the system, but amounts could be quite variable.

"I'm hoping that they get a lot of precipitation. It's a very unfortunate and heartbreaking situation," she said.

"Unfortunately, Mother Nature's going to do what it's going to do but … the one good thing is that temperatures behind the system are going to be quite a lot cooler than we have seen in recent days. So those hot, dry and windy conditions that are primed for the ignition and spread of wildfire will be subsided."

Despite the ongoing battle, some evacuees have been allowed to return to their properties in the RM. According to the RM of Lac du Bonnet website, the evacuation was lifted as of 8 p.m. Thursday for permanent residents in Wendigo road subdivisions and residences stretching from Highway 313 to Newcombe Road.

No seasonal access or visitors are permitted there yet, and all other evacuated areas remain closed.

Updates are being posted to the Lac du Bonnet Emergency Management Facebook page.

Even with the rain and cooler temperatures, "the fire remains active in several areas within the identified red zone, which means that our evacuation must remain in place," states a message posted just after 9 a.m. Friday on the Facebook page.

"We appreciate the impact that these decisions have on our residents but we must continue to make decisions that provide the highest level of safety."

At last report, that fire is just over 4,000 hectares, and it's still touch-and-go.

"I was there this morning [on Wendigo Road] … where the fire started. There's still hot spots and smoldering points on that fire," RM of Lac du Bonnet Reeve Loren Schinkel said Friday.

Rain 'a blessing' in Piney

The rain did make an impact on one out-of-control fire in the province.

The Piney wildfire "was getting extremely close to the community [of Woodridge]. Then all of a sudden we could feel the temperature drop … so we knew the rain was coming," said Ken Prociw, a councillor for the RM of Piney, near the U.S.-Manitoba border.

"The skies just opened up. It was a blessing. It just changed everything."

That fire, which was just across the street from the Woodridge fire hall, was suddenly held. Prior to that, crews were scrambling to create fire breaks but the flames kept jumping them, he said.

"It was changing constantly. It was unbelievable how it was swarming."

According to Friday's update from the RM, the Woodridge area got 15 mm of rain, but the fire is still listed as out of control and the state of emergency remains in place.

The fire was last estimated to be more than 8,900 hectares in size, the RM said in a Friday afternoon update, and had already forced evacuations in the communities of St. Labre, Florze and parts of Carrick and Woodridge. Prociw said it has destroyed one home in St. Labre and possibly two cottages in Florze.

Evacuation orders will not be lifted until the status of the fire has been changed to "being held," the RM's update states.

Another update will be done Friday evening, and the RM will post the information on its social media sites for the public.

The Manitoba government has held briefings the last two days, but hasn't yet said if it intends to hold a news conference Friday to provide an update on the wildfire situation.