Nearly 1,500 fire evacuees waiting on Manitoba Hydro before returning home

Nearly 1,500 people evacuated from fire-threatened First Nations in northern Manitoba remain cooped up in Winnipeg hotels three weeks after they left their communities. 

Little Grand Rapids has 974 members living out of suitcases in Winnipeg and Pauingassi has 443 evacuees registered with the Canadian Red Cross. 

There is no timeline for their return home, the agency said. 

Canadian Red Cross spokesperson Michelle Palansky said they're waiting for Manitoba Hydro to restore power in the fly-in communities before letting evacuees return home.

The utility ran a community meeting Friday with displaced residents to describe the extensive work ahead of them. Among their projects, they're repairing a severely damaged 66-kilovolt sub-transmission power line, lifting electrical poles by helicopter from Bissett, the closest community the poles can be driven to, and flying workers every day from St. Andrews Airport.

Hydro staff started working in the area last week after the province said it was safe to do so.

"The work we have to do will take obviously a number of days, perhaps a number of weeks," spokesperson Bruce Owen said. 

He explained their work is dependent on weather and the availability of materials and equipment, among other factors.

The two communities, located less than 20 kilometres apart about 270 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, were evacuated three weeks ago because of a massive wildfire that's engulfed 28,000 hectares of land — half the size of Winnipeg — as of last weekend. Provincial officials say firefighters now have the blaze under control.

As of Sunday, 13 fires were burning in the province.

Community members from another evacuated Manitoba First Nation returned home earlier this month.

On June 2, the evacuation order for Sapotaweyak Cree Nation was lifted. The Red Cross helped 890 registered evacuees in Brandon, Swan River and The Pas.