More than 2 dozen cottages, homes burned to the ground in Manitoba's Burge Lake Provincial Park

Dave Baxter · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 18, 2025 6:40 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

More than 2 twelve cottages and homes successful northwestern Manitoba's Burge Lake Provincial Park person burned to the crushed owed to wildfires, the politician of Lynn Lake confirmed this week.

And arsenic officials proceed to measure the damage, helium says galore are acrophobic astir the affectional toll the demolition volition person connected residents erstwhile they yet instrumentality home.

"We've seen a tremendous magnitude of loss," said Brandon Dulewich, the politician of Lynn Lake, astir 235 kilometres northbound of Flin Flon.

Firefighters spent days trying to prevention astir 35 homes and cabins located successful Burge Lake Provincial Park, which is lone astir 5 kilometres northbound of the municipality of Lynn Lake, helium said.

Despite their efforts, Dulewich confirmed Wednesday that 29 buildings, including a premix of some seasonal cottages and imperishable residences, were destroyed.

"The demolition astatine that subdivision is thing that is highly hard to see, and my bosom goes retired to those who mislaid a location oregon a cottage retired there. 

"It's thing they've worked for their full life, and present it's gone."

The buildings destroyed included his ain cottage successful the area — a nonaccomplishment helium is inactive coming to grips with, said Dulewich, who also works arsenic a firefighter with the Lynn Lake Fire Department.

Firefighters person been moving for weeks to incorporate an out-of-control wildfire that continues to pain successful the region, and covers astir 72,000 hectares, according to the province's latest occurrence update. 

Lynn Lake and the surrounding country were ordered evacuated connected May 27, and residents inactive haven't been cleared to spell home.

With buildings destroyed, and overmuch of the country present charred, Dulewich is informing residents that the Burge Lake they volition travel backmost to will look a batch antithetic than what they left.

"Even that determination is wholly charred," helium said. "There's nary trees near standing, the crushed is black.  

"It's not what it utilized to be. It's going to beryllium astonishing for radical and overwhelming."

The demolition is "heartbreaking," helium said, acknowledging the transportation galore successful the country person to their homes and cottages.

'Just awful': occurrence chief

Lynn Lake Fire Department Chief Paul Grimmer echoed Dulewich's concerns astir the country that Burge Lake residents are poised to instrumentality to, and however they volition woody with it emotionally.

"It's conscionable awful," Grimmer said. "It was conscionable a beauteous park, and present it conscionable looks similar a weaponry went disconnected successful the mediate of it."

Grimmer besides mislaid his ain cottage successful the fire, helium confirmed, but said his fig 1 precedence present is for the section to prevention arsenic galore structures arsenic they tin arsenic the occurrence continues to burn.

As of Wednesday, neither Dulewich and Grimmer could accidental erstwhile they expect residents from the country will be able to instrumentality home. Both said the occurrence could proceed to endanger Lynn Lake and Burge Lake, depending connected elements similar vigor and upwind successful the coming days and weeks. 

Crystal Antila, who is simply a unpaid firefighter with the Springfield Fire Department successful confederate Manitoba but grew up successful Lynn Lake, bought a compartment successful Burge Lake astir a twelvemonth ago. It was 1 of the structures that has present burned down, she said.

"We heard astir it a fewer weeks agone now, and evidently a batch of radical got the aforesaid news, truthful it's a truly unfortunate nonaccomplishment for a batch of radical retired there," she said. 

In her unpaid role, Antila said she was 1 of the galore radical dispatched to the country to combat the fire, and she was capable to spot the demolition to her compartment and to the country first-hand. 

"'Before' and 'after' is simply a precise antithetic view," she said. "It was a precise affectional experience." 

As hard arsenic losing her ain compartment was, Antila said she can't ideate however radical who person mislaid homes and cabins that person been successful their families for years — decades, successful immoderate cases — volition consciousness erstwhile they instrumentality to the ruins. 

"There are a fewer radical that this was their year-round home, and I can't ideate however they are dealing with the accent of that loss," she said. "I americium fortunate it was a summertime getaway, truthful it's not having the aforesaid interaction connected my day-to-day life, and my bosom goes retired to them. 

"It indispensable beryllium precise hard for them each azygous time present trying to fig retired what their beingness is going to look like."

The state confirmed connected Wednesday it is alert of 130 structures successful full mislaid crossed the state owed to this year's wildfires, but said it volition not be providing immoderate much details oregon descriptions until affected individuals person been notified. 

As of Wednesday, the Manitoba Wildfire Service was fighting 21 progressive wildfires crossed the province. There person been 124 wildfires to day this year, above the mean for this day of 118 full fires, the state said successful its latest occurrence bulletin.

Find the latest wildfire accusation astatine these sources:

• Canadian wildfire map
• Province of Manitoba occurrence bulletins
• CBC's wildfire tracker
• Communities nether evacuations successful Manitoba