Crews still battling Flin Flon wildfire, even as 'some sense of normality' returns to city

Lauren Scott · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Wildland firefighters from crossed North America volition enactment connected the beforehand lines of the wildfire adjacent Flin Flon, arsenic residents settee backmost into beingness successful the bluish Manitoba metropolis pursuing a month-long evacuation order.

Improving conditions allowed officials to assistance the May 28 evacuation order for the metropolis of astir 5,000, and residents were capable to instrumentality arsenic of Wednesday morning.

Flin Flon occurrence Chief Jason Kuras, whose occurrence crews person been putting successful 18- to 20-hour days since the wildfire crossed the borderline from Saskatchewan connected May 27, says each the hard enactment was worthy it to bring locals home.

"It's perfectly astonishing to person everybody backmost successful municipality here," Kuras said. "It's conscionable truly bully to person immoderate consciousness of normality coming back."

In the archetypal fewer days of the wildfire, Kuras said the city's firefighters — who typically respond to structural fire calls — were alone, warring close astatine the borderline of the wildfire's beforehand lines. 

They worked to incorporate cardinal areas, arsenic firefighters from crossed North America were connected their mode to join. 

"We had members doing everything they perchance could, with immoderate instrumentality we could have," Kuras said. 

Nearly 200 firefighters from much than 50 municipalities and occurrence departments answered the telephone for help, bringing occurrence trucks, boats and different indispensable instrumentality with them to the city, much than 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

It's a effect Kuras said helium volition everlastingly beryllium grateful for. 

Davis Oatway, 1 of the incidental commanders, came up from Utah with his eight-person unit of wildland firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service. 

He said the Flin Flon occurrence is 1 of the worst he's seen. 

"I've surely been connected immoderate precise ample and precise analyzable wildfires passim my career, but this is the astir challenging incidental commandant duty I've ever had," Oatway said. 

His unit focused mostly on securing the occurrence perimeter, and protecting the city and adjacent water communities, which helped to clasp backmost the fire, Oatway said. 

Now that the metropolis is harmless capable to welcome residents home, Oatway said his unit is heading further retired into the surrounding occurrence portion to assistance combat the blaze. 

"We're shifting folks retired to the northbound and eastbound to effort and progressively wrapper astir the fire, due to the fact that it's giant. It's conscionable going to instrumentality time," helium said. 

Challenges successful 'huge co-ordination effort'

With crews and resources coming from each crossed North America to onslaught the occurrence from land, h2o and air, the provincial occurrence commissioner's bureau was called successful to co-ordinate the effort. 

Incident commandant Dave Parker, who works for the Manitoba occurrence commissioner's office, joined occurrence officials successful Flin Flon astir 2 weeks ago. 

Bringing further crews into a monolithic firefighting effort, similar the 1 successful Flin Flon, is peculiarly challenging due to the fact that it means the municipalities they came from request to trust connected communal assistance agreements to support those communities harmless portion the exigency responders are away. 

"It is simply a large challenge, and it's a immense co-ordination effort to guarantee that we person firefighters and apparatus wherever they're needed, arsenic good arsenic protecting their location communities," Parker said. 

Many occurrence crews volition beryllium staying adjacent Flin Flon to support warring the wildfire burning beyond the city, helium said.

The Flin Flon occurrence remains the largest presently burning successful the province, astatine much than 370,000 hectares according to the province's occurrence presumption study Wednesday. It is inactive retired of control. 

Meanwhile, Parker said the occurrence commissioner's bureau continues to co-ordinate wildfire efforts crossed the province. 

There were 18 progressive wildfires crossed Manitoba arsenic of Wednesday, the state said successful its astir caller occurrence bulletin. More than 909,000 hectares person burned.  

U.S. firefighter Oatway said determination volition besides apt beryllium fume astir Flin Flon for the foreseeable future. 

"There volition beryllium fume continuing, possibly until the snowfall flies … we don't know. But it is simply a long-duration wildfire event, truthful determination volition beryllium fume showing for a precise agelong time," helium said. 

In the meantime, Flin Flon firefighters volition beryllium transitioning backmost to their regular roles, and volition hopefully get immoderate much-needed rest, said Kuras.

"My crews are decidedly exhausted, but they are conscionable the astir astonishing radical of individuals you could ever inquire for," helium said. 

"All the recognition goes to the hardworking firefighters that made it happen."

Find the latest wildfire accusation astatine these sources:

• Canadian wildfire map
• Province of Manitoba occurrence bulletins
• CBC's wildfire tracker

Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anyplace successful Manitoba oregon email [email protected].