In the span of one day, the sky in Flin Flon went from a clear summer blue to shrouded in smoke, with air tasting like an ashtray.
“It was very eerie,” said Noelle Drimmie, whose family is among thousands of Manitobans ordered to evacuate their communities due to wildfires in the province’s north.
When she came home from work on Tuesday evening, the sky “just was beautiful. It was blue [and] we were all running around doing our things,” Drimmie said.
“And then when we woke up the next day, the sun [was] blocked out, and it tastes like an ashtray outside.”
The alert to leave the city of 5,000 came around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Drimmie, her husband and two young daughters packed what they could — including the urn containing ashes of an infant son — and pulled onto the highway to head south by 5 p.m.
But before they left, Drimmie, a photographer, did one last thing.
“I took videos of all our different rooms and all our stuff, you know, should the worst happen.”
Anna Krassilowsky witnessed the same abrupt change in conditions on Wednesday, describing the environment as like a muddied palette when the alert came.
“There was just a really big haze over the town when I left. It was just orange, yellow, like almost brown even, with smoke,” she said.
“Luckily we got out with pretty good timing so we didn’t have to deal with much of the lineups getting out of Flin Flon. I got gas [Tuesday], thankfully, because the gas stations were insane [Wednesday]. It was crazy.”
Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said he reached out to administration in The Pas, which is linked to Flin Flon by Highway 10 and in the direct flow of the evacuees.
“I said, listen, there’s a heck of a convoy coming. So they got into immediate action and prepared themselves, made sure the gas stations were opened,” he said. “They really did a heroic job of setting things up.”
No homes or buildings had been lost in the city due to the fire as of Thursday, “but it’s right there,” Fontaine said.
“It was frightening to be driving down the highway and see these extremely high walls of flames coming towards the community. A lot of people would have seen that sort of thing on their departure.”
Krassilowsky said about 65 kilometres south of Flin Flon, she saw “bursts of flames” in the trees, a clear sign of the dangerously dry conditions.
Fortunately, crews were already on top of those new eruptions, she said.
Drimmie and Krassilowsky are among 17,000 people being evacuated from the northern and eastern regions of Manitoba due to wildfires.
As of Wednesday (the most recent update from the province), there were 22 active wildfires in Manitoba. There have been a total of 102 already this season, far above the province’s 20-year annual average of 78 at this time of year.
Premier Wab Kinew declared a provincewide state of emergency on Wednesday, with evacuation orders also in place for Lynn Lake, Sherridon, Pukatawagan Cree Nation (also known as Mathias Colomb First Nation), Marcel Colomb First Nation and Pimicikimak Cree Nation.
Norway House First Nation and Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville) are under evacuation notices, with people ordered to be ready to leave.
WATCH | An aerial view of the fire near Pimicikamak:
Pimicikamak Cree Nation Chief David Monias posted this video, taken from a helicopter flying above the community, on Facebook Thursday. It shows the wildfires filling the sky with smoke around the community. There is no sound on the video.
The out-of-control fire near Flin Flon was last listed at about 38,000 hectares in size.
On Wednesday, the leading edge of the wildfire was about three kilometres away from the city. On Thursday, it was about 500 metres, but its pace was slowed by calm winds, Mayor Fontaine said.
“We’re hopeful right now. But really, it’s a question of conditions.”
‘Cross your fingers, say your prayers’
Fontaine posted a video to the city’s Facebook page on Thursday, hoping to quash any rumours.
“We’ve got people going around saying [on social media that] all kinds of destruction had already happened,” he said. “We want to make sure that people understood that so far, so good. But cross your fingers, say your prayers.”
There are upwards of 125 firefighters from several communities working on the blaze, said Fontaine, adding he’d love to see water bombers added to the mix.
However, the poor visibility from smoke has prevented them from flying.
Fontaine intends to use the Facebook page to provide regular updates for residents, for as long as he’s able.
“We want them to understand that if something happens, we will inform them. But I don’t know how long we’ll be allowed to stay here as administration.”
A handful of people remain in the city who need to evacuate. Police and city officials are going around to help them, and buses will be available to transport them out, Fontaine said.
Winnipeg is expected to receive several thousand evacuees, and a reception centre has been set up at Billy Mosienko Arena on Keewatin Street. Century and Eric Coy arenas have also been made available to the province and Canadian Red Cross.
The city will look at using other facilities as needed, possibly including community centres, Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham said Thursday.
“This is a time of, no doubt, anxiety and uncertainty for people. We just want fellow Manitobans to know you’re welcome in Winnipeg,” he said.
Flin Flon’s Drimmie already had a crash course in preparing to leave a fire-threatened area last year, when wildfires encroached on nearby Cranberry Portage and filled her city with smoke.
“So we kind of knew the drill in some ways, but deep down, you hoped you didn’t have to do it,” she said.
This time the fire started much closer, in Flin Flon’s sister city of Creighton, Sask. The two communities are adjacent to one another on the provincial border.
One day before the mandatory evacuation, Drimmie could see plumes of smoke from Creighton. Soon after, Flin Flon residents were advised to get bags ready in case things got worse.
And they did.
A caravan of vehicles plugged the highway as people already prepared to leave their homes hit the road.
“My daughter was like, ‘Why is this taking so long?’ Because normally when you leave Flin Flon, you’re not in a traffic jam,” Drimmie said.
One of her daughters was also fighting a stomach bug.
“There’s been some puking and there’s some crying and all sort of the standard road-trip stuff that you get, but under this other sort of veil of pressure and sadness.”
LISTEN | Noelle Drimmie talks about her family’s drive out of Flin Flon:
The Current19:48One family’s ‘very strange car trip’ to flee Manitoba fires
Noelle Drimmie could taste the smoke in the air as she and her family fled the wildfires approaching their home in Flin Flon, Man. She tells Matt Galloway how surreal it felt to drive away under apocalyptic skies, while trying to keep her young kids entertained in the back seat.
After hours of driving, they arrived for the night in Riding Mountain National Park.
On Thursday, the adrenaline was replaced with a mix of emotions.
“We’re kind of in this uncertain stage, just watching [social media posts], and it’s really sad to see,” Drimmie said.
“We’re very thankful to everyone fighting the fire. It’s an incredible job that they have to do and to save our community. I feel deep down in my heart that we will have a home to come back to. Just how long that’s going to take is the question.”
Kinew, at a Pride Month event in Winnipeg on Thursday, said little about the fire situation, preferring to focus on the event.
“Let’s keep our neighbours and family and friends who are evacuated from their homes because of wildfire in our hearts and in our minds during these celebrations,” he said, adding the events were moving ahead “because it’s still important to celebrate Pride even during a state of emergency.”
Gillingham has urged all evacuees, no matter where they end up, to register with the Red Cross.
“We know many families are arriving with little more than the clothes on their backs,” he said. “Our job now is to make sure they feel safe, supported and welcomed.”
Donations to the Red Cross to help wildfire evacuees can be made online.
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email [email protected].
