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\u201cIt\u2019s terrible. It\u2019s the worst nightmare come true and something we certainly didn\u2019t anticipate,\u201d Dulewich said Saturday morning, moments before announcing the evacuation.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo kick people out of their houses again, for a second summer in a row, for an unknown period of time, is something I don\u2019t want to do. I\u2019m fighting this tooth and nail, but safety is the utmost concern of the citizens and with projections right now, we are anticipating the fire coming into town.\u201d<\/p>\n
About 600 people live in Lynn Lake.<\/p>\n
Manitoba Wildfire Services directed Dulewich to issue the evacuation order after it became too dangerous for ground crews and aerial bombers to battle the blaze, the mayor said.<\/p>\n
The size of the fire was unclear Saturday. The last available report from the Manitoba government\u2019s wildfire map<\/a> pegged it at 1,600 hectares, but that information had not been updated since Friday.<\/p>\n Information<\/a> from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre suggested the fire had grown to approximately 2,500 hectares as of Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n Dulewich did not know precisely how large the fire was, but said it was burning about 20 kilometres outside of the community.<\/p>\n Based on information provided to him by fire officials, he believed the fire could travel within six kilometres of Lynn Lake before the end of day on Saturday, and could reach the town\u2019s boundary at some point the following day.<\/p>\n Smoke conditions near the blaze were too intense Saturday morning for aerial crews to accurately report the size, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds like suppression efforts are minimal \u2014 limited crews, limited resources. If there was a possibility to get more crews and resources to fight this fire, I think we would stand a really good chance, but apparently it sounds like those aren\u2019t available,\u201d Dulewich said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought after the fires of last year, there would have been a lot better plans in place of fighting fires and to mitigate them, but currently we\u2019re seeing almost worse efforts than we saw last year, which doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n Arrangements were made to transport resident by bus from the Lynn Lake town office to the airport. Other people opted to drive out of the community in their own vehicles.<\/p>\n The Town of Lynn Lake put out a call for motorists with room to provide rides to people who did not have access to a vehicle.<\/p>\n A reception centre was established at Brandon\u2019s Victoria Inn.<\/p>\n Evacuees were urged to bring their prescription medicines, essential items and necessary supplies for children and pets.<\/p>\n Resident John Porter said he planned to finish his shift at Lynn Lake\u2019s northern store on Saturday afternoon, then begin the evacuation process with his wife and children.<\/p>\n He was reluctant to leave the community.<\/p>\n Porter was among a handful of Lynn Lake residents who stayed behind last year when wildfires prompted similar evacuation orders in May and July. His family, meanwhile, evacuated and remained away from home for three months.<\/p>\n \u201c(People) are not happy at all,\u201d he said of the evacuation. \u201cI\u2019d like to stay, but I\u2019ve got family, so I have to leave with my family.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the emergency order, the northern store was relatively quiet throughout the day Saturday, Porter said. Some customers popped in for \u201codds and ends,\u201d but there was no apparent sense of panic, he said.<\/p>\n Conditions in the community were cool and the smoke was limited as of Saturday afternoon, said Gord Loewen, owner of Lynn Lake\u2019s Esso gas station.<\/p>\n He said the pumps were packed with people filling up on fuel as word of the evacuation spread.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody has been rushing around to get ready\u2026 It\u2019s frustrating, that\u2019s all I can tell you, very frustrating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Like Porter, Loewen said there was no panic in the community.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be very short-lived, I\u2019m sure of it,\u201d he said of the evacuation.<\/p>\n \u201cErring on the side of caution, I guess, is a good thing for certain folks, but it just stalls everything and puts everything upside down for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n He planned to stay in the community to ensure the gas station remained open during the emergency.<\/p>\n \u201cTrying to keep people flowing and keep them on track, I guess, so they can do what they\u2019re told to do.\u201d<\/p>\n The evacuation is happening in co-ordination with the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, Emergency Social Services and the Canadian Red Cross, a provincial spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n Members of Canada Task Force Four \u2014 a specialized disaster response team overseen by the Office of the Fire Commissioner \u2014 are on the ground in Lynn Lake to assist with the evacuation. They also helped to set up sprinklers and other firefighting resources to protect infrastructure, the statement said.<\/p>\n \n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t The Northern Health Region issued a statement saying the Lynn Lake hospital would remain open for emergency services.<\/p>\n The province said 26 new fires were sparked on Friday, bringing the number of active fires to 96. In total, 159 fires have burned in Manitoba this year, compared to the 20-year average of 149 for this date.<\/p>\n The mandatory evacuation order comes less than 24 hours after Lynn Lake recommended residents voluntarily evacuate.<\/p>\n Dulewich called for more fire support, saying additional pumps, hoses, water bombers and fire crews are required to protect his community.<\/p>\n tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Tyler Searle Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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