Wildfire

The Manitoba government has signed a $30-million contract with the Canadian Red Cross for evacuee support and other services related to this year's wildfires.

The recently disclosed contract is worth more than half the province's total annual budget for emergency services and provides a first glimpse into the cost of the Manitoba's worst wildfire season in at least 30 years.

"We know that we need to continue providing supports to Manitobans who are facing evacuations and are continuing to need support," Finance Minister Adrien Sala said in an interview Tuesday.

The number of active wildfires in our province has dropped slightly since last week.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service is reporting that there are now 153 active wildfires in our province, which is down from 161 on Wednesday. The total number of wildfires this year is 417, which is well above the average of 331 for this time of year.

According to the Manitoba Wildfire Service, there is a low fire danger in the majority of the province, with a moderate fire danger level in the central and eastern areas. 

A northern Manitoba town that has been evacuated twice this summer due to out-of-control wildfires has been given the go-ahead to return home later this week. 

The mandatory evacuation order for the roughly 1,000 residents who live in Snow Lake, about 700 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, is expected to lift Friday morning. 

The town says in a Facebook post that a welcome centre will be set up at the community's hall to provide resources and assistance for returning residents, including mental-health supports and a food bank. 

Officials say the largest wildfire burning in Newfoundland and Labrador may have destroyed up to 100 homes and structures.

However, Premier John Hogan says it is still too dangerous for crews to get into the area to complete an accurate tally.

The fire burning along the northwestern shore of Conception Bay began on Aug. 3 near Kingston, N.L.,  and Hogan says it now measures more than eight square kilometres.

Canada's 2025 wildfire season is now the second-worst on record.

The latest figures posted by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggest the fires have torn through 72,000 square kilometres, an area roughly the size of New Brunswick.

That surpasses the next worst season in 1989 and is about half the area burned during the record-setting 2023 season, according to a federal database of wildfire seasons dating back to 1972.

The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs says it's time for Ottawa to stop studying the idea of a national forest fire co-ordination agency and take action.

The organization's president wants the federal government to take inspiration from the U.S. Fire Administration to establish a similar office in Canada.

The U.S. office is part of Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, but Ken McMullen says a Canadian version could be simpler and less costly.

The former Manitoba Developmental Centre (MDC) in Portage la Prairie will temporarily reopen to help house wildfire evacuees from across the province.

Portage Mayor Sharilyn Knox shared the update in Facebook post, stating the move is part of the provincial government’s emergency response to the growing number of displaced families.

Residents of two communities were preparing to head home Tuesday, while another community was being evacuated, as crews continued to battle wildfires across a large swath of the Prairies.

Some of the 2,400 residents of Tataskweyak Cree Nation in northern Manitoba started making their way back, two months after they were forced to leave by encroaching fire.

"It's very good news this week," Chief Doreen Spence said in a video posted to Facebook on Monday night.

The Manitoba Wildfire Service (MWS) says our province remains at a moderate to high fire danger level. Human activity, including arson, is contributing significantly to current wildfire conditions. As a result, critical firefighting resources are being diverted to respond to deliberately set fires, often in or near communities.

As wildfire smoke continues to blanket parts of southern Manitoba, health experts are urging residents to take extra steps to protect their lungs and overall well-being.

Juliette Mucha, President and CEO of the Manitoba Lung Association, says the situation has persisted for over a week.

“The winds are bringing it in, smoke can travel hundreds of kilometres,” she says. “We’ve had Air Quality Health Index days of 10-plus, which is very serious.”

Mucha adds that the health impacts can start small but become more serious with prolonged exposure.