Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew again declared a provincewide state of emergency Thursday, as renewed wildfires forced thousands out of their homes, some for the second time in weeks.
Kinew said the order, the second since late May, is critical to rally resources.
“We’re going to be asking Manitobans to be helping out in a number of ways,” Kinew told a news conference.
“We want to underscore just how serious this wildfire season is.”
The announcement came as Garden Hill First Nation, a fly-in community with more than 3,000 people, ordered everyone out ahead of an out-of-control fire.
Kinew said the military is helping with multiple flights in Hercules aircraft out of the community, 480 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
Snow Lake, a town 600 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, also issued a mandatory evacuation order for its 1,000 residents. It’s the second time this season they have been told to leave.
The 600 residents in Lynn Lake were ordered last week to flee for the second time. About 350 residents in Leaf Rapids were told to leave earlier this week.
In total, about 12,600 people across the province are out of their homes.
Snow Lake Mayor Ron Scott said it’s frustrating to have to leave again.
“We anticipated that this was going to be a very long, painful summer with the very dry conditions, windy conditions,” Scott said from Snow Lake.
“There’s fires all over the place.”
A major blaze is within 16 kilometres of the town and wind is blowing it toward the community, he said. The highway south is open and people have been leaving in an orderly fashion, he added.
The Red Cross and the Manitoba government have been operating a reception centre for evacuees at a large indoor soccer complex in Winnipeg.
“Know that if shelter is needed, you will be staying at the soccer complex on cots, as there are no available hotel rooms in Winnipeg,” said a Town of Snow Lake notice posted online.
Manitoba wildfires first flared up in May, forcing up to 22,000 residents out, including everyone in Flin Flon near the Saskatchewan boundary and thousands in Pimicikamak Cree Nation in the north.
The exodus put a strain on the province, forcing it to put up congregate shelters and urge hotels to free up as much space as possible. The government also asked tourists to reconsider visiting during the crisis.
Thousands of evacuees went home in the weeks that followed, as the weather and fire crews kept the flames at bay.
Over the past week, the fires, aided by lightning strikes, have surged back.
The province said there were 105 active fires as of Thursday.
(This report by Steve Lambert of The Canadian Press was first published July 10, 2025)
