‘That fire moves fast’: Firefighter describes experience in Northern Manitoba

Firefighter Kyle Scribe says it's been a grueling and demanding last several weeks as he fought wildfires near his Manitoba community. Alex Karpa reports.

It’s been a gruelling few weeks for firefighter Kyle Scribe, helping fight the out-of-control wildfire near his community of Pimicikamak Cree Nation in Northern Manitoba.

“It’s pretty dangerous for our firefighters to be out there,” he said.

Scribe and his team at the Cross Lake Band Fire Department have been tasked with putting out fires and identifying hot spots around the community. He says hot spots continue to flare up, which is causing more fires and creating a tougher environment to fight.

“It’s tiring because you have to work fast so the fire doesn’t get away from you,” he said. “On windy days, you always have to be ready to run out of the bush because of the fast-moving fire.”

Scribe says his team has been working long hours in the last few weeks, doing everything they can to prevent the fire from hitting the community. But it hasn’t been easy. No matter what they do, there are days where the fire will continue to spread, making the fire fight extremely exhausting.

“Your mind says you want to do it, but after a couple of weeks, your body says you can’t,” he said. “You’re running out of energy and all that stuff. We have to take a few days, sit back and try to get our strength back.”

Hundreds of firefighters like Scribe are working around the clock to try and get people back to their homes. It’s been a demanding time for many firefighters, not just in Manitoba, but across much of the country.

As of Tuesday, the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre Inc. says there are 224 active wildfires across the country – 101 of those are deemed out of control.

There has been a total of 1,890 wildfires, burning around 3.3 million hectares of land.

Ken McMullen, president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, and a fire cheif in Red Deer, Alta., says it’s a staggering number.

“I don’t believe there will ever be enough firefighters to put out the types of fires we are facing across our country,” he said. “As a result of that, we must use what we do have, in the most coordinated and appropriate way possible.”

Canada has seen a reduction of firefighters over the last three years.

According to data from the 2024 Great Canadian Fire Census, there has been a drop of more than 2,000 volunteer and career firefighters across the country.

With an early start to the 2025 wildfire season, and with a full summer still ahead, McMullen fears more could leave.

“We’re asking these individuals to be gone days, weeks, and as we saw in 2023 and 2024, gone for a month at a time,” he said. “That’s where the sustainability comes into question. The reality is, the data will tell us that there will be some individuals that will not return to being a volunteer firefighter, or a career firefighter for that matter, after the long seasons that are presented during these wildfire seasons.”

McMullen, along with many other fire advocates, have been calling for the creation of a national fire administration in Canada.

“We need to take the 124,000 municipal firefighters we have to understand what their training is, what equipment to they have and how can they best utilize their skills,” he said. “Not only in their own provinces, but other provinces and territories in Canada.”

Firefighting help is not just coming from other provinces, but other countries as well.

A 96-personnel team from Australia, which includes firefighters and specialists, have been deployed to Canada for five weeks.

This response comes after an urgent request from the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre,