Southeastern Manitoba on edge as wildfires rage on

The flames were hugeand the fear they could creep closer to Billy Berg's home was enough to keep the Zhoda, Man., resident up and outside into the wee hours of Monday morning.

"I was out there letting people know that this is real, and the flames were so high,over the trees you could see them," said Berg, who posted photos and streamed the eastern Manitoba fire on Facebook Live Sunday night.

"It was just scary. Some of the firemen were actually in the ditch and stomping it out with their feet."

Jim Swidersky loses home in wildfire

6 years ago

Duration 1:17

The reeve of the RM of Stuartburn in southeastern Manitoba lost his home after a wildfire swept though the area.

Dry conditions and strong winds whipped up a wildfire around the rural municipality of Piney on Sunday that grew to about eight kilometres long. The home of Stuartburn Reeve Jim Swidersky was destroyed by the fire, and fires 170kilometres to the northwest in the Interlake municipality of Armstrong destroyed at least two other homes.

No new fires were detected Tuesday in Armstrong andthose that are burning are under control, said local Reeve Jack Cruise, but the community remains on high alert due to dry conditions in the area.

Meanwhile astate of emergency enacted Monday remained in place Tuesday for the southeastern Manitoba municipality of Piney.

Highway 203 is closed and an emergency command centre has been set up in the small forested Piney community of Badger as locals prepare for a possible evacuation.

Burn bans are in place through much ofsoutheastern Manitoba and the Interlake, with pockets of south-central and southwestern Manitoba also affected.

"Springtime puts everybody in this area on edge because it's dry," said Ken Prociw, deputy reeve of Piney, adding wildfires threatened Badger a few years ago.

'A frightening experience'

Donna Stewart is one of the few full-time residents in Badger. She was also one of the locals who was forced to leave her home behind during a forest fire in 2012.

Dozens of B.C. and Manitoba firefighters pitched in and additional water bombers from Quebec helped as the fire grew to at least 53 square kilometres in size at one point that year.

"It's a frightening experience. It makes you very uncomfortable," she said.

"The last couple of days have been pretty tense. The fire was threatening, the wind shifted and the concern was the fire was going to be blown back into town."

Stewart says she feels relieved the fire is no longer racing toward her community, thanks tosome overnight moisture and lighter winds.

'Very blessed'

Billy Berg, who lives in Zhoda where the rural municipalities of La Broquerie and Piney meet was in Steinbach Sunday for his nephew's birthday when he saw posts on social media about a fire near his home.

He asked someone else in the area to confirm, and they told him it was "literally in your backyard."

'This fire is relentless,' says Billy Berg as wildfire sweeps through Zhoda, Man.

6 years ago

Duration 0:56

"I was out there letting people know that this is real, and the flames were so high, over the trees you could see them," said Billy Berg, who posted photos and streamed the eastern Manitoba fire on Facebook Live Sunday night.

He and his brother-in-law drove back to Zhoda, where they discovered a home had been engulfed in flames about 30 metres from his backyard.

"At my sister's place, she lives right there, the fire dodged her place by 10 feet, 20 feetactually looped around her houseand then her neighbour to the right, his house is a total loss," Berg said from Blumenorton Tuesday.

"We were very blessedand fortunate to come away from that and didn't have to give up whatthis other individual did. And our prayers are out to him and his family."

The flames seemed to peak around 11 p.m., but Berg stayed up past midnight to keep an eye on the fire, ensuring his family was safe.

"My nerves were bugging me quite a bit," Berg said. "It was really hard, becauseso close to home and [with] the risk of [losing] everything but the clothes on your back, just gone."

Though that portion of the fire was doused, Berg still worries Zhoda and nearbycommunities in Piney could end up back in the path of the grass fire.

"We're hoping they can contain it," he said.

Southeastern Manitoba on edge as wildfires rage on

6 years ago

Duration 2:10

Several houses lost to fires in Interlake, southeastern RM of Piney.

Several provincial water bombers and helicopters continue to fight the fire on Crown land, while Piney fire crews are posted in Badger, Prociw said.

The fire is still burning near Badger, Prociw said, and the cause of the original blaze in the southeast is still unknown.

CBC Manitoba meteorologist John Sauder says parts ofsoutheastern Manitoba may get some rain Wednesday night, but not much.

Piney councillors and emergency officials were expected to meet Tuesday to discuss next steps.

• Manitoba government: Current municipal burning restrictions