Evacuations continued Tuesday in areas of Manitoba affected by ongoing wildfires.
The province said Nopiming Provincial Park in eastern Manitoba is being evacuated due to the fire threat while Whiteshell Provincial Park has been closed due to an out-of-control fire along the border with Ontario.
A fire near Bird River in the RM of Alexander, northeast of Winnipeg, has also forced a number of people from their homes, while the RM of Piney has declared a state of local emergency. The wildfire near The Pas remains out-of-control and the RM of St. Clements is on alert.
Climate change, one expert says, continues to make the wildfire situation worse in Manitoba — a trend that is unfortunately expected to continue.
“You have a heatwave happening in May — it’s not that common, it’s quite early for the season, and it’s right when wildfire season starts,” Anabela Bonada of the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation told 680 CJOB’s Connecting Winnipeg.
“Those strong winds are great at spreading wildfires, so even if ignitions do occur, and they’re small, it’s those windy, dry conditions that are quite dangerous and can spread those wildfires.”
Bonada said local governments aren’t doing enough to deal with wildfire risks and are often ill-equipped for this type of emergency.
“There aren’t enough resources for just the amount of risk we have in the system,” she said.
“Municipal governments are kind of strained … they don’t receive that much funding, they don’t receive that much educational material to be able to implement some of these changes.”
Bonada said a big step toward protecting communities would be removing dry vegetation and building fire breaks ahead of wildfire season.
Lisa Naylor, Manitoba’s emergency measures minister, says the lack of rain and sweltering temperatures have caused trouble.
“Grass fires can start this early, but it’s been a very big hit … with how hot it’s been and how dry it’s been,” Naylor said.
According to the latest data from the province, all 74 of the wildfires reported before Sunday were caused by people.
“We need to get better as people respecting what’s going on in nature and not starting fires when everything (can easily) go up in flames,” Naylor said.
Things are expected to cool off later this week, with some rain expected in Manitoba by Thursday.
The province says park closures and fire bans will remain in place until conditions improve.
