People in a town in northwestern Manitoba are being forced out of their homes after a wildfire put the community under a mandatory evacuation order on Friday.
The Town of Snow Lake declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday and implemented a voluntary evacuation, giving people a chance to leave before further restrictions kicked in.
Some residents have left since, but all those who remain in the town must now be out before noon Saturday, Snow Lake said in a social media post Friday.
The wildfire threatening Snow Lake was still kilometres away from the town earlier this week, but west and northwest winds were pushing the blaze toward Snow Lake, choking the air with heavy smoke, the town’s mayor told CBC News on Wednesday.
That wildfire was the largest out-control blaze in Manitoba on Thursday, officials previously said, burning over 307,000 hectares.
Snow Lake, with a population of just over 1,000 in 2021, is about 120 kilometres east of Flin Flon, where thousands of people were forced out of their homes by the same fire last week. Snow Lake is about 590 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
The town is the latest in a string of communities in northern Manitoba that have been evacuated because of wildfires that have forced an exodus of more than 18,000 people and put the province under a state of emergency.
Find the latest wildfire information:
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.