Widespread wildfire smoke prompts air quality alerts in Manitoba

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 9:01 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

Smoke from wildfires is causing mediocre aerial prime and reduced visibility successful parts of Manitoba, prompting alerts from Environment Canada.

Warm and dry conditions are expected done the week, continuing the conditions that substance wildfires, the upwind agency's forecast says. However, dangerously precocious winds are not expected.

On the flip side, though, the lighter winds mean the smoke volition linger for a prolonged period.

An aerial prime informing has been issued for southeastern Manitoba, stretching from Manigotagan on the eastbound broadside of Lake Winnipeg southbound to East Braintree, and from astir 40 kilometres eastbound of Winnipeg to the Ontario border.

It includes:

• Bissett.
• Falcon Lake and West Hawk Lake.
• Powerview-Pine Falls.
• Seven Sisters Falls.
• Nopiming Provincial Park.
• Pointe du Bois.
• Rural municipality of Alexander.
• RM of Lac Du Bonnet.
• RM of Reynolds.
• Ste. Rita.
• Hadashville.
• Rennie.
• RM of Victoria Beach.
• RM of Whitemouth, including Elma.
• Shoal Lake First Nations.

The occurrence in Nopiming Provincial Park, the largest of 15 wildfires presently burning in the province, remains listed arsenic retired of power astatine 115,100 hectares on Manitoba's FireView map.

Environment Canada urges radical to bounds clip outdoors and to see reducing oregon rescheduling outdoor activities and events.

Mild and communal symptoms from mediocre aerial prime impact eye, chemoreceptor and pharynx irritation, headaches oregon a mean cough. More superior symptoms see wheezing, thorax pains oregon terrible cough.

When indoors, support windows and doors closed arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.

If you indispensable walk clip outdoors, a well-fitting respirator-type disguise (N95 oregon equivalent) tin trim vulnerability to the good particles successful the smoke, the upwind bureau says.

A peculiar aerial prime connection covers overmuch of bluish Manitoba, from the extremity of Lake Winnipeg to the Nunavut borderline and crossed to the Saskatchewan border.

The lone bluish conception not covered by the connection is the northeast corner, including Churchill, Gillam, Shamattawa and the Island Lake communities.

Environment Canada issued the aforesaid wellness warnings for the regions nether the air prime connection arsenic those nether the warning.