Mathias Colomb Cree Nation fire evacuees in Winnipeg hope for safe return

As the evacuation of Mathias Colomb First Nation was expected to conclude Sunday, evacuees now hunkered down in Winnipeg say they're hopeful they'll be able to soon go home and find everything they left behind safe and sound. 

"I don't want to lose our home … and my dogs," said Nadine Sinclair in a Sunday interview with CBC outside a Winnipeg airport-area hotel. 

The long-time Pukatawagan-area resident was one of the first people flown out of the community on Friday owing to health issues with members of her family. 

A wildfire near Mathias Colomb is now approximately 230 square kilometres in size and is less than a kilometre away from the community, the Manitoba Wildfire Service said.

Nearly 2,000 people have been forced out due to the smoke and fire risk. 

Chief Lorna Bighetty said Sunday evening nine civilians set to be evacuated remained.

They are a husband and wife and their children who were at a campsite about 30 kilometres away from the community. A helicopter was dispatched to find them, bring them back and get them on a road-rail vehicle to take them away to safety, Bighetty said. 

"Most likely they're aware [of the situation] but there's no way for them to come to Pukatawagan, that's what I'm assuming," she said. 

A crew of nine people will remain behind after Bighetty and her husband leave, she said. They include fire technicians, safety officers and two RCMP specialists, she said. She has vowed to stay until the last civilian is safely out of harm's way. 

While stressed, Bighetty said she was confident those staying behind would be OK. 

"I'm calm, I'm confident and I have faith," she said. "My faith is really strong." 

Sinclair said people started getting the call Thursday afternoon to be prepared to leave. Within an hour of being told that, the evacuation began, she said. 

"My heart just panicked. I said 'where's the bag? Where's the bag?' I was panicking," the 44-year-old mother of one said. "My anxiety just raised up so high." 

Sinclair hopes the time spent in Winnipeg, located about 700 kilometres southeast of the community, won't be longer than a week. She also credited the "really good job" done by the community's chief, Lorna Bighetty, who told CBC she wasn't leaving the community until everyone got out. 

Charlie Bighetty was taking comfort in the fact everyone was getting out safe and sound. 

"Makes all of us happy that we're out here and all safe — especially all our kids," the father of four said. 

"My biggest hope at this point is that our community is going to be safe and no burns around the houses," Bighetty said. 

The Canadian Forces was tapped to assist with the evacuations on Saturday but Sunday there were no government or Canadian Red Cross requests for further help on that front, a spokesperson with Canadian Forces Base 17 Wing in Winnipeg said. 

"The Province of Manitoba and Indigenous Services Canada had a plan to extract the remaining people who had to be evacuated, and indicated there was no need for support from the Canadian Armed Forces to complete that evacuation," the spokesperson said.

The vast majority of people — between 1,500-1,600 of the roughly 2,000 people there — were taken out of the community by Keewatin Railway Company, which Mathias Colomb First Nation co-owns with two other First Nation communities. 

CEO Anthony Mayham said many people were taken to Sherridon, about 70 kilometres south of Pukatawagan, where they caught Red Cross buses to their final destination. Some took the train further south to The Pas. 

The company was delivering aviation fuel back up to the community on Sunday to support aircraft working to battle the fire, Mayham said. "We'll continue to monitor and assist in any way we can moving forward," Mayham said.