Manitoba community evacuates due to fire; Snow Lake sees flare-up

A fire is nearly on the doorstep of Snow Lake, being fueled by winds in the area.

Hundreds more people will be evacuated from a northern Manitoba town due to wildfire and a separate fire near another community had a sizeable flare-up on Monday evening, according to Tuesday’s Wildfire bulletin from the province.

Cormorant – located roughly 80 kilometres northeast of The Pas – issued a mandatory evacuation Tuesday afternoon due to a fire which is approximately 12 kilometres away and 800 hectares in size.

Snow Lake experienced a “fairly significant” flare-up on the golf course between greens three and five, according to the town’s Facebook page. There were also some additional flare-ups along the west side of the second hole. The town said fire crews responded quickly to contain the fires and worked to extinguish hotspots around the course.

Firefighters managed to hold the fire line directly north, which the town dubbed a “huge success” considering crews were dealing with heavy northwesterly winds.

“This area of control line continues to be a high priority zone for the fire,” the town wrote.

“Crews, alongside heavy equipment and aerial support, will continue to dig control lines deeper to prevent further spread towards Snow Lake.”

In the area south of the Lalor Mine, the town said a “new finger blew out” towards Chisel Lake. It noted that crews are working to establish control lines as the burn is spreading quickly.

Heavy northwest winds are expected again on Tuesday in the town about 190 kilometres east of Flin Flon. This could continue to create challenges for the control lines to the north and near the Lalor Mine, the post said.

The fire near Snow Lake is approximately 28,000 hectares in size.