While some Manitoba wildfires are easing up, residents of Lynn Lake in the province’s north are being forced to leave their homes to avoid a nearby blaze.
The province announced Monday that an out-of-control wildfire was only a half-dozen kilometres from the town. As of Tuesday morning, town officials said in a social media post that the fire poses an imminent threat and all residents need to evacuate.
A reception centre for evacuees has been set up at the community centre in Thompson, almost a four-hour drive to the southeast.
Residents without personal transportation are being helped out of Lynn Lake by bus. People fleeing the community are asked to bring only the necessities, including identification, medication, go-bags, provisions for pets and any other necessary supplies.
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Mayor Brandon Dulewich told 680 CJOB there’s only one road in and out of the town, and the fire is expected to burn right through it.
“It’ll burn through our road and then we’ll be stranded here so at 8 a.m., myself and the rest of council decided to make it a mandatory evacuation,” he said.
Upcoming wind conditions, he said, didn’t give the community much choice but to evacuate.
“It’s been creeping toward Lynn Lake on a bit of a backdraft, the wind’s been busing it away from the community… but with the forecast and the winds changing later this evening and early tomorrow, it will be blowing the fire directly toward the community.”
At last count, the province said there were 17 active wildfires across Manitoba, with six considered out-of-control.
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