Manitoba caregiver worried wildfire evacuation will have lasting impacts on children

Rosanna Hempel · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 1:28 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Wildfire evacuee Irvin Head from Cranberry Portage, who cares for his nephew and 2 nieces, is acrophobic astir what the evacuation means for children's education, socialization and well-being distant from school.

Head and his family, who are among the 21,000 wildfire evacuees from Manitoba, were forced retired of their location astatine the extremity of May and person been staying successful Winnipeg since.

The household has mostly been cooped up wrong with their electronics and pets, isolated from a sojourn to the Assiniboine Park Zoo past week facilitated by the Canadian Red Cross, Head said.

The evacuation acquisition has been stressful and afloat of uncertainty for the children, helium said.

"The kids consciousness it conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic we do, but they explicit it differently," Head said.

"It's indispensable for the kids to beryllium capable to person those activities and person immoderate benignant of normalcy, due to the fact that if we're stuck successful our, wherever we're renting, and there's thing for them to bash there, they suffer that benignant of schedule. Like, they say, 'Oh, I miss my schoolhouse friends. I privation I could spell to schoolhouse again.'"

Head's 14-year-old nephew is missing retired connected halfway memories astatine school, including his Grade 8 travel to Churchill that's been cancelled.

"It's upsetting, and the champion we could bash is say, 'OK, we'll spell to the zoo, this and that,' but you tin benignant of archer helium was truly disappointed," helium said.

"It's going to beryllium each kid's occupation who had to miss retired connected that benignant of stuff."

Cranberry Portage's evacuation past twelvemonth owed to a antithetic wildfire meant immoderate precocious schoolhouse graduates missed retired connected their postponed graduation, helium said.

Northern schools closed

Head's nephew and 2 nieces are among astir 800 children successful the Frontier School Division who've been displaced owed to evacuation orders brought connected by wildfires successful the past fewer weeks. 

They're from 7 schools successful Bissett, Cranberry Portage, Cross Lake, Lynn Lake, Sherridon and Snow Lake, Frontier main superintendent Tyson MacGillivray told CBC News.

It's the astir important evacuation helium tin callback his part ever having to enactment through, helium said.

"It's a precise stressful clip for families and students, and they're navigating and utilizing their tools to marque this the champion that they can, fixed the terrible circumstances that they're under," MacGillivray said.

In the past 2 weeks, mediocre aerial prime owed to wildfire fume has besides forced immoderate time closures astatine schools successful Brochet, Gillam, Leaf Rapids, Norway House, South Indian Lake and Wabowden, helium said.

"One time you whitethorn person large aerial quality. The adjacent day, depending connected the wind, the assemblage tin beryllium blanketed by smoke, truthful it's truly connected a case-by-case ground … to marque that telephone connected whether we should proceed with classes oregon postpone them for the day."

MacGillivray says for now, the part is focused connected pupil wellness and getting successful interaction with displaced families scattered crossed Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario to marque definite they person activities and consciousness good supported.

He hopes most of the evacuees will beryllium capable to spell backmost to their communities in the adjacent week to 10 days, and children tin instrumentality to schoolhouse for the remainder of the world year.

"As soon arsenic we person the OK to get backmost into the community, we'll re-engage our kids," to marque definite students are successful a bully spot and prepared for their adjacent people level, MacGillivray said.

'We're successful endurance mode'

Frontier School Division and Louis Riel School Division are among those helping the Cross Lake Education Authority enactment connected a tract time successful Winnipeg connected Wednesday.

The event's activities include balloons and bouncy castles, on with games and learning booths for displaced students.

"That's astatine slightest thing we tin do," Pimicikamak Cree Nation Coun. Vivian Scott said Tuesday.

The main and assembly person chiefly been preoccupied with making definite assemblage members are fed and person a spot to enactment for the night, since the First Nation declared a authorities of exigency past period owed to a adjacent out-of-control wildfire, Scott said. 

They proceed to woody with regular accommodation and outgo issues with the Red Cross, she said.

"As for learning, I privation bully luck to each our parents with that, due to the fact that … we're successful endurance mode," Scott said.

Head is grateful his household was capable to unafraid an Airbnb during the evacuation, though they're besides plagued with questions and worries astir whether they'll beryllium reimbursed.

"If this continues connected for longer than they plan, however is this going to cookware out?" helium said.

"Are we going to person to transportation the kids if we person to enactment present for longer?"

Head would beryllium unfastened to having the children proceed their acquisition online, akin to COVID-19 pandemic times, oregon getting learning materials from schools, truthful they tin resume their studies until they tin spell home.

"I don't cognize if this concern is going to get immoderate amended earlier it gets worse," helium said.

"Some days it feels like, 'Oh, possibly we should person stayed home.'"

Find the latest wildfire information:

• 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].