Town of Lynn Lake being evacuated due to northern Manitoba wildfire

Arturo Chang · CBC News

· Posted: May 27, 2025 11:01 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Residents of a bluish Manitoba assemblage person been ordered to permission municipality due to the fact that of the "imminent threat" posed by a adjacent wildfire.

The Town of Lynn Lake said successful a Facebook station Tuesday greeting residents and visitors indispensable evacuate the assemblage effectual instantly owed to a rapidly advancing wildfire.

The blaze, astir 5 kilometres northbound of the community, is astir 7,000 hectares successful size and was retired of power arsenic of Tuesday, the state said successful its latest occurrence bulletin, issued Tuesday afternoon.

The municipality said successful an update Monday that Manitoba Wildfire Service crews were pulled backmost from the occurrence enactment owed to utmost conditions, including upwind gusts of up to 55 km/h.

Audie Dulewich, who is with the crews preparing for the wildfire, said he's been moving to physique occurrence breaks successful Lynn Lake implicit the past fewer days.

"We benignant of got a occurrence that's wrapped astir the assemblage beauteous bully and burning for respective weeks already. But the winds were benignant of southeast winds, driving it distant from the community. And tomorrow, those winds are owed to change," Dulewich said Tuesday morning.

"There's been plumes of fume each astir america for rather a while. Now, the entity is conscionable filled with smoke, truthful you can't truly spot the large plumes anymore."

Brandon Dulewich, Lynn Lake's politician and Audie's son, said the upwind was expected to propulsion the occurrence toward Provincial Road 391.

"Once that occurrence crosses the highway, it volition nary longer beryllium an enactment to evacuate via the highway, truthful we privation arsenic galore radical retired arsenic we tin now," helium said.

Lynn Lake, which is conscionable implicit 800 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, has a colonisation of astir 600, according to the 2021 census.

The politician said adjacent Marcel Colomb First Nation, which helium said has adjacent to 300 residents, is organizing its ain evacuation with assistance from the Canadian Red Cross.

The evacuation announcement said autobus proscription is disposable for those without idiosyncratic transportation, from West Lynn Heights School. A reception centre has been acceptable up astatine the Thompson Regional Community Centre successful Thompson, astir 230 kilometres away.

Residents are being told to instrumentality spell bags, on with identification, medications, indispensable supplies and provisions for their pets.

Anthony McInnis, Thompson's metropolis manager, said the metropolis expects betwixt 500 and 600 evacuees to enactment successful Thompson, but is acceptable to person up to 883 radical from Lynn Lake and Marcel Colomb.

Officials are besides moving with Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation to acceptable up a structure to perchance instrumentality successful 200 evacuees, helium said.

"We were pre-planning due to the fact that of the fires down successful Cross Lake Saturday oregon Sunday," McInnis said. "We were expecting them to evacuate here. Those conditions changed and past we recovered retired astir Lynn Lake, truthful our absorption shifted astatine that time."

Brandon Dulewich said helium expects 90 per cent of Lynn Lake's residents to beryllium evacuated by Tuesday evening.

Firefighter injured

The Manitoba Wildfire Service is presently responding to 18 progressive fires successful the province, according to the latest occurrence bulletin.

One firefighter was severely injured portion performing their duties connected Sunday and has been hospitalized, the bulletin said. It did not accidental which occurrence the idiosyncratic was fighting.

About 190 kilometres southbound of Lynn Lake, an out-of-control wildfire prompted an evacuation bid successful the assemblage of Sherridon Monday.

Sheryl Matheson, president of the Northern Association of Community Councils and lawman politician of Sherridon, said winds are acceptable to propulsion fume toward the assemblage Wednesday.

"We person nary aerial enactment oregon crushed enactment astatine this time. My knowing is conscionable that it's conscionable not disposable for us," she said. "All we're doing close present is worth extortion successful our community."

The wildfire adjacent Sherridon has present grown to astir 40,000 hectares, according to Tuesday's occurrence bulletin, a important leap from astir 8,000 hectares arsenic of Monday, according to the province's occurrence map.

Matheson said astir a twelve residents person stayed backmost to assistance support Sherridon from the flames.

"We are a precise tiny bluish community," with a colonisation of conscionable implicit 80, she said.

Last year, a occurrence forced a structure successful spot order, "where we couldn't get retired of the community," she said.

"This year, we're surrounded by it and we're going to suffer roadworthy entree astatine immoderate constituent implicit the adjacent 24 hours. It's devastating."

Debi Hatch, who, on with her husband, member and sister-in-law, is simply a subordinate of the unpaid occurrence section successful Sherridon, said resources are stretched thin.

"We're conscionable preparing for the worst, right?" she said. "The sprinkler systems, the occurrence motortruck is active. Wildfire services are doing what they can, I'm sure, with the stretched resources they have. And we're seeing much and much of these big, immense fires."