An evacuation order is now in effect for the townsite of Badgar in the Rural Municipality of Piney as crews continue to battle an ongoing wildfire dubbed EA057.
This latest evacuation order was issued at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The municipality asks residents leaving Badger to travel south on the 203 towards Piney, then head to the evacuee reception site at the Woodridge Community Club.
Evacuation orders remain in place for the communities of Florze, Carrick, and St. Labre.
The fire has grown from 1,000 to 7,000 hectares since Tuesday, May 13.
Manitoba Wildfire Service currently has two helicopters and heavy equipment working on the fireguards.
Piney Reeve Wayne Anderson notes that the amount of rain predicted has decreased, and they have already lost two structures and evacuated four communities.
According to the latest fire bulletin, the northeast corner near Florze is holding and is not currently spreading north.
Fireguard 14 near Carrick is also holding, providing some stability to that area. There has been some fire activity reported to the south on the east side of the tracks and as a result the evacuation order was issued for Badger.
Despite the challenges, Anderson says that evacuees are coping as best they can.
“I just would like to talk to the evacuees that are been affected by this. Try to be patient. We'll let you know when we can, when you can come back and so forth. And we wish you well.”
Communities including La Broquerie and Buffalo Point have come together to assist as part of the mutual aid plan in place.
“Of course they can't fight it at night, so overnight it grows and then in the morning they have to go and try to knock down hot spots where they can,” says Anderson.
Because of other active fires across Manitoba, they’re limited in how much support they can request from surrounding communities.
“Everybody has the same problem we have. It's dry in their places too, and they can't leave their municipalities that much because they get called back as well.”
Piney Counsellor Ken Prociw says many evacuees and fire fighters have been receiving help from the Woodridge Community Center which has been designated as a reception site.
“Here what we do is we register, we take down their civic address, where they've left from, phone number and whether they need to go someplace. But the majority of the people that have come in have family [to stay with], so they tell us where they're going and what number we can contact with them, so that if things change or they can go back to their homes.”
He says that they are extremely appreciative of La Broquerie crews.
“We really appreciate the fact that today and last night we had help from La Broquerie because we're part of mutual aid. So they came out and gave us a hand which was a big break for our fire fighters, because they were pretty beat from the heat and everything else.”
Volunteers have also stepped up in other ways, preparing food for the firefighters who’ve been battling extreme heat and difficult terrain.
In the meantime, all eyes are on the weather and Prociw says he hopes for rain to come.
With files from Andrea Turner
