Wildfires break out near 2 northern Manitoba First Nations

Firefighters battled three wildfires that broke out near two First Nations in northern Manitoba on Monday.

The first was reported at around 3 p.m. about 10 kilometres north of Norway House Cree Nation near Highway 373, while another was reported around 4 p.m. about four kilometres south of Pimicikamak Cree Nation, according to the communities' chiefs. 

Norway House Cree Nation Chief Larson Anderson said there was another fire west of Highway 373, near the Gilbert Laugher Ferry crossing.

As of Monday evening, the fires did not pose a threat to either community.

Anderson said water bombers put out the flames of the fire 10 kilometres north of Norway House. He said that fire was still smouldering as of about 9 p.m. but seemed to be contained.

"We're being cautious but we feel that our crews are doing a good job. We're going to keep an eye out for it all night and keep praying that it doesn't fire back up," he said.

No one was forced to evacuate their homes because of the blaze, but the community's multiplex was opened for people who were bothered by the smoke and having trouble breathing, Anderson said.

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias said the brush fire near his community also seemed to be contained as of Monday evening, but firefighters were monitoring it.

Monias said he didn't think the fire posed a risk to the community, but he was more worried about the smoke and its impact on people's breathing.

This is the first fire Pimicikamak has seen so far this year, and Monias hopes it's the last. 

"It's never fun having a fire near our community because it really affects the livelihood of our people, but also the health of our citizens," he said.

In Norway House, Anderson said he was worried about how close the fire was to Highway 373 — the First Nation's only road out — and the potential for a fire to leave the community with no way of evacuating.

"That's our lifeline out of the community, so if things got bad, we'd be stuck here," he said, adding that flying people out would be difficult given that the community has about 6,000 residents.