Mathias Colomb evacuees adjust to Winnipeg as more wildfires erupt around home community

Some of the evacuees forced from their homes by northern Manitoba wildfiressay they're facing "culture shock" as they adjustto life in Winnipeg, and hope it will be a short stay.

But mostly, they hope their home community will still be there once the flames are snuffed.

"I can honestly say we are all just hoping to make it back home safe and sound to our community," saidMarshall Daniels, one of hundreds of residents from Mathias Colomb Cree Nationstaying at a hotel in Winnipeg.

Some of the other 2,000 evacuees from the communityare inThompson, The Pas and Brandon.

Danielswent to high school in Winnipeg so is more familiar with the city than many others from the remote community, about 700 kilometres to the northwest.

"For some of them, it's a bit of a culture shock to go from bush and trees and water to cement and concrete. But they're adjusting a little cranky at times, but adjusting," he said.

"I'm just happy to have a decent roof over my head and that my family is safe."

The wildfire that forced residents outof Mathias Colomb over the past week waslast estimated by the Manitoba Wildfire Service to be 230 square kilometres in size andless than 500 metres east of Pukatawagan, a community that's part ofMathias Colomb.

The out-of-control fire was first detected aweek ago,and evacuations started the following day.The cause is listed as natural.

Band Coun.Alma Hart, who is also staying in Winnipeg, has been running out the door as soon as she wakes every morning, trying to ensure peoplehave what they need, and meeting virtually or by phone with councillors in other places housing evacuees.

"That's how everything's been for the last four days for me and for other councillors and everybody that's working on this," she said.

Most residents dashed out with a singlebag of belongings or just the clothes they were wearing.It's important to make them comfortable,Hart said, because while some are holding out hope it will be a brief stay, she is less optimistic.

There are more fires now developing in the region, whichhas experienced thesummer heat that's blanketed the rest of theprovince, but hasn't seen therain southern Manitoba has, leaving the northern area tinder dry.

"So it doesn't look like we'll be going home anytime soon, until that's been controlled by the province and our firefighters," Hart said.

"We're all worried about our community burning, our homes destroyed, our buildings. We have a train station out there, we have an airport, we have a store just going up."

59 fires in Manitoba

Cailin Hodder, fire operations manager with the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said on Tuesday59 fires were currently burning in the province, including six that started in the previous 24 hours.

Most are in the province's northwest quadrant,which includes Mathias Colomb.

"These fires are growing quite rapidly. In fact, we've seen one fire move as far as 15 kilometres in one day. And that's pretty extensive," Hodder said.

As crews work to beat back theprimary fire that's closing in on thecommunity, they are closelymonitoring another just northeast of it, she said.

"We really just want to focus on the areas that we can manage, the areas that are at highest risk at this time.We don't want to see an impact to hydro lines or the rail system, which is a very critical piece of infrastructure for Mathias Colomb Cree Nation," Hodder said.

"We've been fortunate so far. We have not seen any structures lost or any critical infrastructure at this point. However, these fires are quite dangerous."

Water bombers are working with the support ofcrews and equipment from the Northwest Territories and about 20firefighters from Ontario, who are attacking the flames from the ground level.

But the smoke has been so thick at times it has caused problems getting the bombers in,andhas "really been affecting ground crews as well,"Hodder said.

Sprinklers have also been going almost nonstop in Pukatawagan to soakhomes and other structures to make them less susceptible toheat and embers.

Cooler temperatures, rain in forecast

Cooler temperatures and possible precipitation in the weather forecast could bring some relief over the next few days, Hodder said.

Environment Canada is calling for highs in the mid to low teens on Thursday and Friday, with rain on both days. Rain is also forecastfor Wednesday, but with thunderstorms that could also bring lightning a potential spark for more fires.

The normal high for this time of year in the region is 22 C, but temperatures have reached into the high 20s and low 30s for all but three days since July 9.

For now, Coun. Hart is trying to arrangea space where the public can donate clothes and other items for the evacuees, and trying to get dog food out to the animals left back in the community.

She's also working to arrange recreation activities for the kids in Winnipeg and helping others with medical appointments.

Hart says when evacuees are able to return,the first thing she plans to do is"to check if all my stuff is there still" while she settles in.

Danielssaid he already knows the first thing he intends to do when he gets home:"Jump into our lake and have a swim."

WATCH|Fire evacuees settle in, hope for the best:

Mathias Colomb fire evacuees adjust to Winnipeg

2 years ago

Duration 1:16

The wildfire that forced residents out of Mathias Colomb over the past week was last estimated by the Manitoba Wildfire Service to be 230 square kilometres in size and less than 500 metres east of Pukatawagan, a community that's part of Mathias Colomb.