Lightning strikes behind latest uptick in northern Manitoba wildfires
Most of the wildfires that have started recently in Manitoba's north stem from lightning strikes, some of which have led to local states of emergencies and evacuations in recent days — with the entire community of Leaf Rapids hurrying to get out.
Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said Monday that there are now 81 active fires in the province. A wave of new fires has been tied to lightning, she said.
"When lightning strikes, it can take three to five days, sometimes even longer, for that smoke to pop up," Hayward said during a provincial wildfire update in Winnipeg. "More forecasted on the horizon, unfortunately."
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There's been a total of 235 fires so far in 2025, far surpassing the 20-year average for this time of year of 187, said Hayward.
The Town of Leaf Rapids has declared a local state of emergency and told its residents they have 24 hours to get out of the northern community, about 155 kilometres northwest of Thompson, in a Facebook post Monday morning. The population of Leaf Rapids was about 350 people in the 2021 census.
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"Tension has been building," Ervin Bighetty, general manager of the Co-op in Leaf Rapids, told CBC News on Monday.
About 115 kilometres northeast of Thompson, at least seven houses were razed by flames that spread quickly amid heavy winds in Tataskweyak on Friday, chief and council said in a social media post on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a fire burning north of Thompson has that city on edge, and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, about 65 kilometres to the west, called a local state of emergency Sunday.
The fire threatening Thompson started on Friday and was about seven hectares in size when discovered that morning. By Sunday evening it had grown to 6,000 hectares, Thompson Mayor Colleen Smook said on Monday morning.
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As of now, there are no evacuations happening for the city of roughly 13,000, but Smook has advised residents to gas up their vehicles and to pack medications, food and other necessities, in case they have to suddenly leave.
Should that happen, "it'll be a big ordeal," Smook said.
"We don't have the capacity to put everybody through the gas stations at once," she said.
The flames were most recently about eight kilometres away from the city, and heavy machinery was being used to create fire breaks, Smook said. More firefighting crews arrived Sunday night from Winnipeg to help.
Some of them are working to ensure the airport is safe and accessible, she said.
"We are very lucky that it's not tracking to the city, with our wind at the moment. We've got very little wind this week, but you know, come the end of the week, it could be a different story," she said.
"There's no need to panic at this time, but yet there is a preparedness that we are trying to push through."
City authorities and emergency personnel are having regular meetings, with the next one planned for early Monday afternoon, Smook said. She urged residents to pay attention to the City of Thompson's Facebook page.
"We'll keep everybody updated on just what they need to do."
Bighetty is helping co-ordinate local emergency firefighting services in Leaf Rapids.
"People are wondering what's going on and people are getting annoyed that they don't know more stuff…. I get that feeling," Bighetty said. "But a lot of that is contingency so that people are not panicking."
The Leaf Rapids Facebook notice advises people needing help exiting the community to contact the town office.
Bighetty said at a recent meeting there were more than 200 people needing bus rides out, with another 22 locals with vehicles planning to drive themselves.
Buses are scheduled to leave at Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and everyone must be out by 10 a.m.
The provincial government is helping to secure hotel accommodations for evacuees in Winnipeg, but some Leaf Rapids residents may need to stay in a congregate shelter at first.
Bighetty is focused on getting his loved ones out.
"I want to make sure that they're safe, so I'm going to get my family out and then I'm going to come back and do my thing," he said.
Manitoba lifted a provincewide state of emergency two weeks ago amid improving conditions overall, though several communities that remained on high alert have been forced to leave over the past week — some for the second time since the end of May.
Lynn Lake emptied out on Friday after a mandatory evacuation order, about five weeks after the community of 600 originally emptied out, amid a fresh wildfire threat. They boarded buses and planes and have mostly settled at hotels in Brandon.
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This article was originally publish for CBC News.
Header image: File photo showing lightning over Manitoba. Submitted by Kim Dahl to The Weather Network. Used for illustration purposes only.