Nearly 1,500 fire evacuees waiting on Manitoba Hydro before returning home

Nearly 1,500people evacuated from fire-threatened First Nations in northern Manitoba remain cooped up in Winnipeg hotels three weeks after they left their communities.

Little Grand Rapids has 974members living out of suitcases in Winnipeg and Pauingassihas 443 evacuees registered with the Canadian Red Cross.

There is no timeline for their return home, the agency said.

Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Michelle Palanskysaidthey're waiting for Manitoba Hydro to restore power inthe fly-in communities before letting evacuees return home.

Theutility rana community meetingFriday with displaced residents to describe the extensivework ahead of them. Among their projects, they'rerepairing a severely damaged66-kilovolt sub-transmission power line, lifting electrical poles by helicopter fromBissett, the closest community the poles can be driven to, and flyingworkersevery day fromSt. Andrews Airport.

Hydro staff started working in the area last week after the province said it was safe to do so.

"The work we have to do will take obviously a number of days, perhaps a number of weeks," spokesperson Bruce Owensaid.

He explained their work is dependenton weather and theavailability of materials and equipment, among other factors.

The two communities, located less than 20 kilometres apart about 270kilometres northeastof Winnipeg, wereevacuated three weeks ago because ofa massive wildfire that's engulfed 28,000 hectares of land half the size of Winnipegas of last weekend. Provincial officials say firefighters nowhave the blaze under control.

As of Sunday, 13 fires were burning in the province.

Community members fromanother evacuatedManitoba First Nation returned home earlier this month.

On June 2, the evacuation order forSapotaweyakCree Nation was lifted.The Red Cross helped 890 registered evacuees inBrandon, Swan River and The Pas.