'Wall of fire' in Nopiming park brings 'devastating' end to friends' camping trip

Lauren Scott · CBC News

· Posted: May 18, 2025 9:07 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

Two Winnipeg friends had hoped to recreate fond memories of puerility backcountry camping successful Nopiming Provincial Park with their 2 sons during a travel earlier this week.

But arsenic Eric Gauthier and Pascal Breton were sportfishing astatine their campsite connected Garner Lake adjacent the Ontario border, a lightning onslaught adjacent Bird River — astir 60 kilometres southwest of wherever the radical acceptable up campy — sparked a fast-spreading wildfire that was detected connected Monday. 

"We're camping, we're fishing, we're connected a beauteous formation successful a precise scenic, perfectly stunning place," Gauthier said. 

"We caught a batch of fish," said his seven-year-old lad Caleb Henley. 

On Tuesday, Gauthier said the radical had a cooler afloat of walleye and were grilling steaks connected the barbecue erstwhile they noticed a chopper flying overhead, nearing the formation connected the peninsula wherever they were stationed. 

They didn't cognize it yet, but an evacuation bid was issued for Nopiming parkland connected Tuesday, forcing residents, cottagers and campers to fly the area. 

When helium archetypal saw the helicopter, Breton said helium had disquieted officials mightiness person thought they were cooking implicit an unfastened fire, which the state bans annually betwixt April and November, with immoderate exceptions. 

But days earlier, the radical took disconnected successful 2 boats from a friend's compartment connected Beresford Lake to Garner Lake, which is extracurricular of compartment service. That person knew the group's itinerary and watched for occurrence updates from the state from their location successful Winnipeg. 

When the person received the evacuation announcement for Beresford Lake, they called conservation authorities to fto them cognize wherever Breton and Gauthier were camping with their boys.   

"When the chopper landed, Conservation came retired and said, 'We've got to get you guys retired of here, there's a occurrence truly close,'" Breton said. 

The radical of 4 were among the 13 radical rescued connected Tuesday by Manitoba wildfire and conservation officials, a provincial spokesperson told CBC News. 

"When we got into the helicopter, I was not adjacent reasoning that the camping travel was already done … I didn't cognize it was a fire, but it was a fire," said Breton's six-year-old lad Remi Gautron-Breton, who told CBC News the prima looked reddish arsenic they flew up into the sky.

"It was conscionable a partition of occurrence from the clip they picked america up each the mode backmost to Lac du Bonnet," Breton said. 

Gauthier archetypal visited Nopiming parkland arsenic a young teen and said it was devastating to spot 1 of his favourite places burning from above.

"It's the devastation of losing that park. That spot has a peculiar spot successful my heart," Gauthier said. 

"I wasn't reasoning astir our situation, our safety. I was conscionable reasoning this is gone now. This is our playground. This is wherever we come. This is our peculiar place. It was devastating," helium said. 

Breton said helium was 8 years aged erstwhile his begetter and uncle took him connected his archetypal backcountry camping travel successful the park. It's a fond representation helium said has been etched successful his caput ever since, keeping him coming backmost for 36 years. 

Now Breton fears the wildfire whitethorn trim the spot helium spent truthful galore summers into "a charred clump of trees and stone for years to come." 

Fire wholly destroyed their friend's Beresford Lake cabin, Gauthier said. 

"All that's near of the cottage — from the representation that we've received — all you tin spot is the wood stove successful the middle. Everything other is pulverized," Gauthier said, adding helium and Breton each mislaid a motortruck parked extracurricular the cabin.

On Saturday, the Nopiming wildfire was inactive considered retired of power and has grown to much than 100,000 hectares successful size, according to the province's astir caller occurrence presumption report.

Bird River Fire Chief Mac Kinghorn said successful a video posted to Facebook connected Saturday that wildland firefighters volition beryllium moving connected suppressing the occurrence connected Sunday. 

Officials were antecedently focused connected redeeming structures from harm portion mediocre upwind conditions made it unsafe to combat the occurrence caput on. 

"Right present the rainfall that we got implicit the past 24 hours has made a large quality for us. The crushed is bully and wet, and hopefully that volition get things going," Kinghorn said. 

However, helium said it's inactive unclear erstwhile evacuees volition beryllium capable to instrumentality home. 

Gauthier said it's important to "always archer idiosyncratic wherever you're going to be" erstwhile backcountry camping, crediting their person for helping them get location safe. 

Breton said he's "eternally grateful" to their friend, their rescuers and to the "courageous" firefighters moving to enactment retired the wildfire. 

"Everybody that was progressive successful helping radical get retired of the fires with that rescue effort is amazing," Breton said.