The evacuation of a Manitoba First Nation forced out by wildfires is ramping up with larger aircraft helping out and the reopening of the community’s only airport. However, concerns remain about the sheer number of residents still stranded days after they were ordered out.
Thousands of people have been waiting to be flown out from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, also known as Pukatawagan, since the mandatory evacuation order came on Wednesday.
Smoke from out-of-control wildfires shut down the community’s only airstrip on Thursday. With some aircraft limited to groups of between six and 13 people since then, officials in the community had said it would take days before the evacuation would be complete.
The airport reopened on Saturday morning after the smoke cleared enough to allow aircraft to land, Chief Gordie Bear told CBC News.
“We won’t leave you behind, but you gotta wait in line then so that we can come out without a stampede, without fighting at the gate to get out,” he said.
However, the runway in Pukatawagan can only accommodate helicopters and light planes, excluding other military aircraft such as the Hercules that can handle a greater number of people, Bear said.
“You can only do so much,” he said.
The out-control wildfire, first reported Tuesday, was 9,785 hectares in size and about a kilometre away from the community as of Thursday, according to the province’s wildfire map.
WATCH | Helicopters for Pukatawagan evacuees land in The Pas:
Canadian Forces Chinook helicopters land in The Pas Friday afternoon, more than 200 kilometres south of Pukatawagan, also known as Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, which is under an evacuation order due to a wildfire in the area. (Submitted by Robyn Scott)
Double-rotor Chinook helicopters from the Canadian Forces were flying evacuees from Pukatawagan roughly 210 kilometres south to The Pas on Saturday.
Bear said about 500 residents were expected to be evacuated during the 10-hour window limiting flight crews are timed out for the day and operations resume on Sunday morning.
“It’s very hard to speak for everybody in general, but nobody wants to leave,” Bear said. “This is not a vacation, they are going into a different environment.”
The evacuation is also bringing the trauma some residential school survivors endured after being forcefully removed from their community as he was, Bear said.
However, the threat of the wildfire, combined with the smoke-filled air and a power outage means everyone must leave, Bear said.
Daniel Bighetty and Linda Colomb say when they left Pukatawagan on Friday the smoke was heavy enough to hide the sun. The First Nation had also lost access to running water.
While it was a a “relief” to get out on small chopper, Bighetty, who is a triple-bypass heart patient, said he was hoping other vulnerable residents could soon be evacuated. too.
“There’s a lot of the kids that are under medical attention, elders and heart patients,” he said. “It’s so smoky and it’s hot … here you can breathe better and it’s not so much anxiety.”
Opaskwayak Cree Nation, on the outskirts of The Pas, has set up a centre for evacuees to help them transition into more permanent shelters in southern Manitoba, including Winnipeg and Brandon, said Diane Pelly, executive director for government services in the community.
“There’s nowhere here in the north … to accommodate them,” she said. “Everybody’s really being tested with the supports that are required, and unfortunately, it is relocating to the south.”
Hundreds of evacuees came from Flin Flon on Wednesday. The next day the centre started welcoming people from Pukatwagan that have been arriving in helicopters at the Clearwater Lake Airport in The Pas.
But in the process, she said some families are losing track of their relatives, spurring worry during an already stressful situation, she said.
“We’re doing our very best to move them as quickly as possible,” Pelly said. “There’s still a large number of individuals that need to be transferred out.”
A spokesperson for VIA Rail told CBC about 120 evacuees from Pukatawagan and Flin Flon boarded two trains in The Pas that departed to Winnipeg at about 3:15 a.m. on Saturday.
Evacuees and other passengers on the trains were expected to arrive in Winnipeg by 5:30 p.m.
The Crown corporation said they are helping with the evacuation at the request of Indigenous Services Canada, and will continue to work with government authorities if more assistance is needed.
Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@findhelp.ca.