Manitoba communities rebuild after devastating wildfire season

Manitoba communities are learning hard lessons from last year's wildfire season, which killed two people and destroyed dozens of homes and cottages across the province.

For Lac du Bonnet, the wounds are still raw. John Fleming, the town's emergency measures coordinator, described driving through a subdivision after the May 14 fire: "It was like being hit in the chest with a sledgehammer. A community that was gone."

Now the town and RM have hired a company to conduct a comprehensive wildfire risk assessment and are educating residents on FireSmart — a program that helps homeowners fireproof their properties. "One of my goals is to never have to do that drive into a subdivision that we work in and find out that it's gone," Fleming said.

Nopiming Provincial Park, where last year's wildfire destroyed most of the landscape and several cottages and campsites, is also bracing. A report by the Wilderness Committee recommends limiting mineral exploration, eliminating military training exercises in the park, involving Indigenous communities in decision-making, and establishing a robust FireSmart program for cottagers.

Eric Reder, the wilderness campaigner who prepared the report, framed the challenge starkly: "This is the climate change that has arrived, climate catastrophe, and we don't have the resources to fight the fires that we're likely to see." He called for immediate action on emissions reduction.

As of Monday, 17 wildfires were burning across Manitoba. A fire near Norway House Cree Nation, which broke out late last week and reached about 80 hectares, is being held by about 25 firefighters and two helicopters.