Although a number of areas across the province remain under evacuation orders, around 650 people have been allowed back to their homes near Lac du Bonnet after fleeing from a wildfire last week.
Two people were killed in the fire, and more than 1,000 people were evacuated last week, officials said. Now there’s a staggered approach to letting people back in.
Reeve Loren Schinkel told 680 CJOB’s The Start that it’s been positive seeing so many residents getting back home.
“We asked certain residents (to return), the ones that were further to the north, and then populated back,” he said.
“I know there were people waiting at the line when that announcement was made, but everything appears to have gone very well, and we’re very happy, certainly, for the residents.”
Members of the Manitoba Wildfire Program survey the land as fire crews continue to fight wildfires around Lac du Bonnet, Man., on Thurs. May 15, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski.
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Schinkel said Manitoba Hydro crews deserve credit for the remarkable work they’ve done in cleaning up damages, including more than 200 downed poles and other debris.
“They’ve got crews (working with) miles and miles of wire, cleaning that up,” he said.
“Then they’re picking up insulators because it’s a total area of destruction and they’ve got one team doing that. Another team is coming behind pulling out hydro poles that have been burned and putting them on a trailer.
“They’re grinding everything up with a huge machine out there to make the right-of-ways where they should be. Then you’ve got surveyors coming through and marking. Then you’ve got another machine out there drilling holes in granite.”
An evacuation order remains in place for community members who live near the RM of Alexander and Pinawa Bay Channel.
Manitoba Wildfire Update – 19 May
