Firefighters battling Nopiming wildfire in 'protection mode' to save buildings, cabins
Fire spans 100,000 hectares as of 5 p.m. Friday, province says, as local officials warn evacuees to stay away
Officials in the Rural Municipality of Alexander are in "protection mode" as more than 100 firefighters are on the ground near Bird River to combat the spread of a wildfire that has engulfed parts of Nopiming Provincial Park.
The wildfire is now approximately 100,000 hectares in size, according to a fire update from the province at 5 p.m. on Friday.
Mac Kinghorn, the rural municipality's deputy mayor and fire chief with the Bird River Fire Department, says the fire —- located on the south side of the Bird River Bible Camp —- "is big and it is out of control."
In a video posted to Facebook on Friday afternoon, Kinghorn said water bombing was supposed to be done Friday, if weather allowed, and sprinklers have been installed on the roofs of cabins to limit damage caused by the fire.
"Hopefully that will help to protect things some more," Kinghorn said of the water bombers.
Mayor Jack Brisco said 100 firefighters are in "protection mode," trying to defend structures from further damage, where it is safe to do so.
Brisco said the heavy rain on Friday has actually made it difficult to get water bombers in the air to fight the fire. He said that as of Friday morning, water bombers from Ontario have joined crews battling the Nopiming blaze.
"They're in a defensive mode right now and looking at protecting buildings. They really aren't going out into the forest to fight the fire. They're looking after structures right now," Brisco told CBC's Marcy Markusa in an interview on Radio Noon Manitoba.
All residents in the impacted areas near Bird River have been evacuated, the province said, as have staff at Bernic Lake Mine. Sections of highways 315 and 314 have been closed and blocked, the province said.
Brisco estimates 1,000 people have been evacuated from the area, with the fire affecting residents in 400 homes across 20 subdivisions. He told Markusa that no properties in the area had been destroyed as of Friday afternoon.
"We don't know when you'll be able to get back in but it's going to be a bit yet before conditions allow that to happen," Kinghorn said.
Residents will have to stay away until after the Victoria Day long weekend, said Brisco, as he "can't see that happening over the weekend at all."
Krystal Laurin is a permanent resident in the "close-knit" community of Bissett, about 70 kilometres north of Bird River near the northern reaches of the wildfire in the provincial park.
"This is where I live. I work at the mine in town, so this is … everything, right? So if you lose it all I mean it's no different than everybody in Lac du Bonnet currently. We're just on edge," Laurin said.
"People even have sprinklers and stuff set up in their house should these winds change," she said.
Reena Hubatka, who lives in Calgary but has a family cabin on Beresford Lake, says she feels "overwhelmed" and "scared" and "sad" after the wildfire forced her to cancel plans to be with her family in Manitoba over the Victoria Day long weekend.
"Wildfires [have] been something that we've all experienced in Canada in the past however many years, just hearing people losing their homes and fleeing. Of course it sounds tragic, but until it's something you're experiencing it's so hard," Hubatka told CBC News.
Hubatka said it's been difficult to get official information, but believes her cabin is OK at this point. She says other family and friends in the area may not be so lucky.
"It's just so sad and devastating," she said.
With files from Marcy Markusa and Alana Cole