Province awards wildfire leaders with Order of the Buffalo Hunt

Kristin Hayward (left), Christine Stevens and Wab Kinew (right) seen during a ceremony at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Oct. 9, 2025. (Scott Andersson/CTV News Winnipeg)

The province has awarded two wildfire leaders with one of Manitoba’s highest honours for their efforts in the worst wildfire season experienced by the province in decades.

Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister for the Manitoba Wildfire Service and Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister for the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization, were presented the Order of the Buffalo Hunt at a ceremony in the Manitoba Legislative Building on Friday.

Established in 1957, the order honours Manitobans who made outstanding contributions to the province in the areas of leadership, service and community commitment and is awarded at the discretion of the premier.

Premier Wab Kinew said awarding the honour “is a small way as a province that we can say thank you,” speaking in a room filled with emergency responders involved in the wildfire fight. “Yet even in the midst of tragedy, we saw the best part of Manitoba.”

Hayward and Stevens accepted the award on behalf of more than a hundred organizations and departments which were instrumental in the province’s wildfire fight.

The wildfire season saw nearly 33,000 Manitobans forced from their homes, with 59 evacuation orders and 43 local states of emergency, Stevens said during her acceptance speech.

Altogether, more than two million hectares were burned in the province, which led to two provincial states of emergency, the first being declared on May 28.

READ MORE: Manitoba declares state of emergency as northern communities evacuate due to wildfire threat

“This recognition belongs not to one group or to one person, but to a province that rose together; people and organizations of every kind worked side by side in the face of extraordinary challenge,” Stevens said.

She dedicated the order to the thousands of evacuees during her speech, and in particular to Richard and Sue Noel, a couple from Lac du Bonnet who were killed in May after a wildfire broke out near their home. The start of the ceremony featured a moment of silence in their honour.

“Their memory reminds us of the profound stakes of this work and the courage and humanity that guide us forward,” Stevens said.

The award is accompanied by a certificate of membership, signed by the premier and sealed with the Great Seal of Manitoba, according to Brad Robertson, Manitoba’s Chief of Protocol and master of ceremonies for the event.

Past recipients of Manitoba’s Order of the Buffalo Hunt include Mother Theresa, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman.

Recent recipients include the first responders of the Carberry bush crash that killed 17 people and first responders involved in a sword attack at a Brandon high school this June.