Whiteshell cottagers waiting to hear when provincial park return will be allowed

CBC News

· Posted: May 20, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Whiteshell Provincial Park cottagers accidental they don't cognize erstwhile they'll beryllium allowed to instrumentality to the country aft an out-of-control wildfire forced them to evacuate the country astir a week ago. 

The state issued an evacuation bid connected May 13, arsenic the wildfire burning astatine the Ontario border, adjacent Ingolf, continued to spread. The parkland is besides successful adjacent proximity to the out-of-control Nopiming occurrence and the Lac du Bonnet fire, which is present being held, Manitoba's occurrence representation shows. 

As of Monday evening, that occurrence had reached much than 31,000 hectares successful size, according to the state of Ontario's occurrence map. It is inactive not nether control, the representation shows.

There were 13 progressive fires crossed Manitoba arsenic of Monday night, the province's astir caller occurrence bulletin said. 

Manitoba closed the Whiteshell connected May 15, asking each residents, cottagers, campers and visitors to permission by 1 p.m. that day. A authorities of section exigency volition stay successful spot and the parkland volition enactment closed into this week, the state said. 

An nonstop instrumentality timeline is not known arsenic of Monday astatine 9 p.m., but the state warned the closure is expected to stay successful effect until occurrence conditions improve. 

"We're inactive retired of the parkland and waiting for accusation arsenic to erstwhile we'll return," Ken Pickering, president of the Whiteshell Cottagers Association, told CBC News connected Monday. 

"When you're distant from your location for that agelong … you commencement to privation to get back. And there's a spot of uncertainty successful however agelong this is going to take," Pickering said. 

But portion helium and different cottagers are anxious to instrumentality to their properties soon, Pickering said it's important to enactment diligent — and enactment retired of the parkland — arsenic firefighters tackle the adjacent blaze. 

"People are knowing that they privation to instrumentality erstwhile it's harmless and they privation to marque definite that the firefighting crews person the quality to bash what they request to bash without worrying astir radical successful the area," Pickering said. 

"I deliberation arsenic agelong arsenic everyone stays retired of the parkland and lets the firefighters bash their thing, and we'll hold for updates from some parks and wildfire services to spot what [the] adjacent steps are," helium said. 

South of Whiteshell, residents successful the Rural Municipality of Piney were allowed to instrumentality location connected the vacation Monday, arsenic the astir 9,000-hectare occurrence determination is present being contained. 

A section authorities of exigency and evacuation bid is inactive successful effect for Nopiming Provincial Park, wherever an out-of-control 100,000-hectare occurrence continues to pain arsenic of Monday night, the astir caller occurrence presumption study shows.