Almost a month after wildfires raging out of control forced hundreds out of Marcel Colomb First Nation, the province has given evacuees the green light to start returning home.
Hundreds evacuated the northwestern Manitoba community in late July after two wildfires approached Marcel Colomb from the east, blanketing it with heavy smoke. The situation was volatile for weeks, the province previously said, with one of the fires growing over a matter of a few days from less than 800 hectares to over 3,000 hectares late last month.
A full-scale evacuation of the community began on July 24.
The wildfire grew as close as four kilometres away from Marcel Colomb, burning out of control. But over the weekend, crews on the ground made enough “good progress” to halt both fires, said Manitoba wildfire services director Earl Simmons.
“On Monday, we gave the community the green light to return home,” he said.
Marcel Colomb is the latest First Nation to bring some residents forced to leave their communities back home. Vulnerable residents who evacuated due to thick smoke billowing from a northeastern Manitoba wildfire near Gods Lake flew back to Manto Sipi Cree Nation, Wasagamack First Nation and Red Sucker Lake Anisininew Nation last week.
Wildfire crews are still battling a blaze that forced a full evacuation of Bunibonibee Cree Nation a week ago. That fire is still burning out of control, and is now just eight kilometres away from the northeastern Manitoba community.
Helicopters have managed to keep the fire contained to roughly 11,500 hectares, dousing new hot spots and securing a buffer line for firefighting on the ground.
However, challenging weather, including temperatures peaking above 30 C during the past days and dry conditions in the forecast, are hampering firefighting, Simmons said.
At least 2,500 residents from Bunibonibee Cree Nation were evacuated from the fly-in community last week. Simmons said the wildfire remains active, and the community is still not safe enough for the residents to return.
“We’re not in a position to do that, especially with only 40 per cent of that fire contained,” he said.
Precipitation in northwest Manitoba is expected to move east this week, which authorities hope will help in the fight against the fire near Bunibonibee.
Meanwhile, lighting in other parts of the province continues to ignite wildfires almost every day. The province is watching over at least 70 wildfires currently burning out of control.
Firefighters from New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador are being deployed to other wildfires in Manitoba Wednesday, along with crews from Minnesota and Wisconsin, who are finishing up firefighting near Marcel Colomb First Nation.
“They’ll allow us to free up some crews that are working on other fires, and then we can put those crews on the fire near Bunibonibee Cree Nation … so that we can make some progress,” Simmons said.