Wildfire

There's an air quality warning in effect for the Grande Prairie area.

Smoke is causing very poor air quality and reduced visibility.

Air quality and visibility due to wildfire smoke can fluctuate over short distances and can vary considerably from hour to hour. Some areas will see improved air quality Wednesday.

Residents are advised to limit time outdoors. Reschedule or cancel outdoor sports, activities and events.

You can learn more about how to protect yourself at airhealth.ca

Portage la Prairie residents are seeing some relief as the thick wildfire smoke that shrouded the area over the weekend is beginning to clear.

Shannon Moodie, meteorologist with Environment Canada, says the air quality started improving early Monday morning.

"There’s some heavier smoke lingering in the eastern part of the region, just closer to Winnipeg,” she noted.

Environment Canada and Manitoba Health have issued a special air quality statement for Portage and areas east. In addition, an air quality warning is in effect for areas of the Interlake.

Alberta Wildfire is actively responding to a wildfire along Two Lakes Road, 80 km southwest of Grovedale.

The fire, estimated at 6 hectares, involves a log deck and nearby trees.

Emergency crews are on site, and Two Lakes Road is closed for safety.

The public is advised to avoid the area to prevent delays in emergency response.

No communities, infrastructure, or Provincial Parks are currently at risk.

Information provided by MD Greenview

Smoke drifting in from wildfires burning in northern Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan is causing pockets of poor air quality and reduced visibility across the region.

As a result, a special air quality statement has been issued.

According to Environment Canada and Manitoba Health, conditions can change quickly, even from hour to hour, depending on wind and smoke levels.

With extreme wildfire danger threatening much of the province, the Manitoba government has declared a provincial state of emergency and implemented Level 3 fire and travel restrictions across all designated burn permit areas as of 8 a.m., Thursday, May 30.

The restrictions will remain in place until at least June 26.

A beloved wilderness camp operated by a Winnipeg inner-city ministry is under immediate threat from a fast-moving wildfire near Nopiming Provincial Park.

Kent Dueck, founder and executive director of Inner City Youth Alive, says the fire is now burning less than one kilometre from Gem Lake Wilderness Camp, a remote site that has served as a safe haven for at-risk youth from Winnipeg's inner city for nearly two decades.

"We're praying for a miracle," Dueck told CHVN in an interview Friday morning. “Right now, the camp’s future is in the balance.”

Over 3,000 people are trapped as a wildfire closes in on Pukatawagan in the Mathais Colomb First Nation. 

Chief Gordie Bear declared an evacuation in the community on Wednesday, and it's reported that thick smoke led to the closure of their airport, one of the only remaining ways out of the area. 

As of Thursday, the fire had grown to over 9,700 hectares and was quickly surrounding the remote island community. 

Judith Moore said on Facebook she was evacuated from her home at 3 a.m.

With wildfires popping up daily in Manitoba, the province has decided to implement new restrictions related to the fire ban. 

As of 8 a.m. on Friday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service has implemented Level 3 fire and travel restrictions for the entire province. 

This means:

The Austin Fire Department is reminding residents that fires can start from almost anything, following a grass fire Thursday afternoon just north of Road 70N along Highway 34.

Crews were dispatched around 12:31 p.m. on May 29 to reports of a fire in a field where cattle had been wintered.

As wildfires continue to burn out of control in northern Manitoba, animals are being left behind or brought to safety and displaced with nothing. 

To help comfort families and their furry friends, the City of Winnipeg Animal Services has opened up their facilities as a drop-off spot for animal food donations.