Leaf Rapids Home Damaged by Wildfire After Flames Crossed River

One occupied home and as many as seven vacant homes have been damaged by wildfire in the northern Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids, after flames jumped the Churchill River and entered the community Wednesday night.

Manitoba government officials held a news conference in Winnipeg Thursday afternoon to provide updates on the Leaf Rapids situation as well as other wildfires around the province.

Earlier in the day, a post on the Town of Leaf Rapids Facebook page said a house on Utik Crescent was the only structure that appeared to have burned. It is normally occupied but the resident is among the town's 350 people who have been evacuated since early July.

The other five to seven structures that burned are homes that have been vacant for some time, said Blair McTavish, assistant deputy minister for Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure.

A number of vehicles and several hydro poles were also damaged, though the power remains on, he said.

Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister for the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said there are 120 active wildfires across Manitoba. There had been 333 wildfires this year as of Monday, well above the average of 252 for that date.

There are presently 20 states of local emergency around the province, and more evacuations have occurred over the past 24 hours.

Leaf Rapids — about 150 kilometres northwest of Thompson, or 740 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg — is surrounded by three fires.

The one that leaped across the river and damaged the home forced fire crews to temporarily retreat from the front lines into a safe zone before returning to resume their efforts.

Fire crews have been in the community for a couple of weeks, creating fireguards by cutting back trees, setting up sprinklers on structures and doing other prep work, Hayward said.

\"They were definitely planning for something to happen in the community,\" she said.

\"The fire's behaviour yesterday was very, very intense. Crews talked about how the fire was essentially creating its own weather, and there was all this additional wind and heat, and the movement of the fire was just really, really rapid.\"

Crews started to notice the fire behaviour changing in the late afternoon, with winds gusting much stronger than earlier in the day and beyond what had been forecast, Hayward said.

\"It escalated so quickly, within an hour or two, there was just nothing that really could be done to reduce that fire activity. The smoke was very, very thick as well over the fire, so any aircraft would have been pretty ineffective, because they can't see what's below them and what they're dropping water on.\"

About the same time, ashes and burning embers began falling in the community, so the crews decided at that point to retreat and shelter at their base.

A message that day on Facebook by the provincially appointed town administration said firefighters had left town, but that was incorrect. A provincial spokesperson later clarified that some emergency personnel had to leave, but fire crews remained in the area, in a safe zone briefly, before resuming fire suppression efforts.

\"It was obviously a chaotic situation. I understand it was quite frantic at the time people were leaving the community,\" Hayward said on Thursday.

\"What might have started out as a message that 'We're retreating to safety' or 'We're leaving temporarily' could quickly, and very innocently, have turned into 'They've left and abandoned the community.' I think it was probably just a factor of the speed at which everything was happening.\"

McTavish said the province is going to be working with the town administration to ensure they have accurate and timely information.

Winds are expected to be fairly strong again Thursday and create a challenging situation, \"but we do see some precipitation in the forecast beginning tomorrow, so hopefully that materializes, as that should really help,\" Hayward said.

Tataskweyak residents going home

A fire near Snow Lake advanced somewhat toward the community, pushed by northwest winds, Hayward said.

Crews there are prepared, and \"the community is ready to be defended should that fire make its way further towards town,\" she said.

Crews are also getting the edge on fires at Garden Hill and at Mystery Lake near Thompson, aided by favourable weather.

\"They've been able to make some really good progress, and all of our containment lines are holding at this time,\" she said.

The situation in Tataskweyak Cree Nation, also known as Split Lake, has improved to the point where residents can start planning to return, Hayward said. Nearly 200 people have been out since early July.

Hot spots are still being addressed, but it's safe enough that the first returnees could be home this weekend, McTavish said.