As wildfires continue to burn in various locations throughout Manitoba, some residents say they’ve had first-hand experience escaping the flames.
Delaney McIntyre told 680 CJOB her family successfully made it out of the wildfire danger zone around Sunset Beach at Clearwater Lake.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time they’ve had to dodge a blaze in the province’s north.
“Last year they had fires going on in the Flin Flon area, and we were actually caught in that as well,” McIntyre said.
“We had got the go-ahead to go towards The Pas, because we were coming from Flin Flon, but then the police went ahead of us and turned us around, and said the fire jumped the road … so it’s definitely fire season right now.”
McIntyre said her family has since made it safely to Opaskwayak Cree Nation, but evacuations in several communities north of The Pas and south of Flin Flon are ongoing.
The experience of escaping a wildfire, she said, is something hard to imagine unless you’re seeing — and feeling — it in person.
“It was super hot — you can’t feel anything until you get right beside it.
“It just felt like you were standing in a big sauna, I guess, or by a big bonfire, super close.”
The province put restrictions in place as of Friday in an effort to curtail the spread of wildfires in dry, windy weather conditions. Beginning at 8 a.m., back-country travel on ATVs and other off-road vehicles in areas throughout Manitoba has been nixed due to concerns about the potential for more fires.
As recently as Wednesday, there were 13 wildfires burning in the province, primarily in the eastern part of Manitoba.
