Firefighters in Flin Flon are continuing their efforts to protect the northern Manitoba city from wildfire flames.
As of Monday morning, no structures within city limits had been lost, and officials say the cooler temperatures and rain have helped with the efforts.
Mayor George Fontaine told 680 CJOB the situation has been a difficult one for the Flin Flon evacuees who have moved to safer locations — including Winnipeg and Steinbach — after fleeing the fire.
“They know they don’t belong there (in Flin Flon) right now. It’s tough for all of them … but they’re still appreciative of everything they’re being given,” Fontaine said.
“I went down to Steinbach yesterday to meet some people … they want to be home, but they can’t be home under these conditions, so how tough is it? There’s no choice.”
Fontaine said there have been evacuee meetups in Winnipeg — one of which he attended over the weekend in St. Vital — that have been helping evacuees deal with their temporary new surroundings.
“I did go to one last night … and some people met and it was very, very therapeutic for people to get together,” he said.
The emergency co-ordinator for the RM of Kelsey says it’s been all hands on deck for more than a month now in dealing with wildfires and that communities within the municipality south of Flin Flon didn’t get the amount of rain they were hoping for over the weekend.
“I think we do need those three to four days of just steady rain — I think that’s going to be the best suppression against these fires,” Lori Forbes told Global Winnipeg.
“Crews are working so hard on the edges and the helicopters and the buckets are just consistently going. I think that rain from the sky for about three days would be the trick that we would all love to see right now.”
Despite a dearth of precipitation, Forbes said the cooler temperatures in recent days are helping firefighters in the west-central part of the province get the upper hand.
Forbes said the RM, which began dealing with wildfires as early as May 3, with a brief break between the first outbreaks and the current state of emergency, is still playing host to more than 200 evacuees from various communities.
According to the Canadian Red Cross, there are now more than 18,300 registered wildfire evacuees in Manitoba. The aid organization is operating two congregate shelter sites in Winnipeg, with space for 1,600 people, while another 1,600 are in hotel rooms.
The Red Cross is also giving emergency supplies to 12 shelter sites in other communities that are hosting evacuees.
Total fundraising numbers as of Friday had hit more than $3.3 million, without accounting for matching funds pledged by the federal and provincial governments.
The province is set to provide the latest wildfire update at 12:45 p.m. Monday. Global News will stream the press conference live on this page.
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