Our province provided a favourable update this afternoon regarding the fire burning at Ingolf.
Kristin Hayward is Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Manitoba Wildfire Service (MWS). She says the status of this fire in the Whiteshell has now changed from 'out of control', to 'held.'
"So, a good improvement on that fire there," says Hayward. "There's not a high risk of that fire to spread."
That fire was first detected on May 15th. Its cause remains under investigation. To date, it has burned more than 5,400 hectares on the Manitoba side of the border.
According to Hayward, as of Wednesday, there were 25 fires in our province, with nine of them burning out of control. So far this year we have had 116 fires. The 20-year average is 105 fires by June 11th.
Hayward says that after a brief, but much-appreciated period of cooler weather, we are beginning to see a return to higher fire danger levels across our province. She notes there is a moderate fire danger level across most areas, with the potential for holdover lightning starts. Hayward explains that with thunderstorms moving across our province over the last couple of days, it can sometimes take up to five days for fires to show up from lightning strikes.
"So, we're always keeping an eye on that," she says.
And, with temperatures rising, Hayward says the potential for flareups increases. She explains that fires can lay low in cooler, wetter weather, but then as soon as the sun pops out and provides some heat, you suddenly start to see smoke rise.
"Because of that we want to be confident that we have really good containment before we're allowing folks back," she adds.
Hayward says the situation is relatively stable or improving with a lot of the fires currently in our province. She adds that despite recent lightning, there have not been any new fire starts over the last 24 hours, and no significant growth from any fires.
Ian Bushie is Minister of Natural Resources and Indigenous Futures. He notes the firefighting efforts in Manitoba is truly an example of all hands on deck. Bushie says not only is Manitoba receiving help from across Canada, but internationally as well.
However, Bushie encourages Manitobans to continue to be fire smart. noting that we have probably not reached the height of our wildfire season.
"We are mindful of the fact that we're only in June," adds Hayward. "And we will have fires in July, August and into September."
And, Hayward says that as the fire activity increases in other parts of Canada, provinces like B.C. and Alberta are starting to take back their resources in order to fight their own fires. However, she notes that our province continues to be well supported by the United States.
Bushie adds that Manitoba is in the queue for three new water bombers that should be coming online in 2030/31.
Christine Stevens is Assistant Deputy Minister for the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization. She notes that currently there are 25 states of local emergency in Manitoba, though the state of local emergency has now ended in the RM of Alexander.
Stevens adds 27 communities remain evacuated due to wildfire threats and there are six communities evacuated due to the impact of smoke. No new evacuations have been ordered over the last 24 hours.
According to Stevens, there are more than 2,100 registered evacuees with the Canadian Red Cross. She notes the RM of Kelsey has announced that residents from Cranberry Portage will be allowed to return home beginning on Saturday at 8 am.
Meanwhile, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor says the evacuation in our province has been significant. In fact, she says it is the largest domestic air operation in the history of the Canadian military.