Whiteshell cottagers waiting to hear when provincial park return will be allowed

Whiteshell Provincial Park cottagers say they don't know when they'll be allowed to return to the area after an out-of-control wildfire forced them to evacuate the area nearly a week ago. 

The province issued an evacuation order on May 13, as the wildfire burning at the Ontario border, near Ingolf, continued to spread. The park is also in close proximity to the out-of-control Nopiming fire and the Lac du Bonnet fire, which is now being held, Manitoba's fire map shows. 

As of Monday evening, that fire had reached more than 31,000 hectares in size, according to the province of Ontario's fire map. It is still not under control, the map shows.

There were 13 active fires across Manitoba as of Monday night, the province's most recent fire bulletin said. 

Manitoba closed the Whiteshell on May 15, asking all residents, cottagers, campers and visitors to leave by 1 p.m. that day. A state of local emergency will remain in place and the park will stay closed into this week, the province said. 

An exact return timeline is not known as of Monday at 9 p.m., but the province warned the closure is expected to remain in effect until fire conditions improve. 

"We're still out of the park and waiting for information as to when we'll return," Ken Pickering, president of the Whiteshell Cottagers Association, told CBC News on Monday. 

"When you're away from your home for that long … you start to want to get back. And there's a bit of uncertainty in how long this is going to take," Pickering said. 

But while he and other cottagers are anxious to return to their properties soon, Pickering said it's important to stay patient — and stay out of the park — as firefighters tackle the nearby blaze. 

"People are understanding that they want to return when it's safe and they want to make sure that the firefighting crews have the ability to do what they need to do without worrying about people in the area," Pickering said. 

"I think as long as everyone stays out of the park and lets the firefighters do their thing, and we'll wait for updates from both parks and wildfire services to see what [the] next steps are," he said. 

South of Whiteshell, residents in the Rural Municipality of Piney were allowed to return home on the holiday Monday, as the nearly 9,000-hectare fire there is now being contained. 

A local state of emergency and evacuation order is still in effect for Nopiming Provincial Park, where an out-of-control 100,000-hectare fire continues to burn as of Monday night, the most recent fire status report shows.