Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew ordered a province-wide state of emergency Wednesday as his province struggles with a series of crippling wildfires, mainly in the remote north.
Kinew says he has spoken to Prime Minister Mark Carney, who has agreed to send in the military.
The premier said the fires have forced 17,000 people across several communities to flee in what he calls the largest such exodus in living memory in Manitoba.
"Pray for Flin Flon, pray for Pimicikamak, pray for Mathias Colomb, pray for Cross Lake, pray for everybody in Manitoba who's out of their homes right now," he told a late afternoon news conference.
The evacuations include all 5,000 residents of the city of Flin Flon.
Kinew said when cottage owners and other nearby residents are added in, the number rises to 6,000.
Those residents were told just hours earlier to head south with their essentials, as they were warned a day earlier they might have to flee on a moment's notice.
“I can tell you everybody has to be out by midnight and that includes me," Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said in an interview.
"I’m busy packing a couple of things and everybody is getting as organized as we can.”
He said people plan to take Highway 10 as it’s the only route out.
“That ends up in Winnipeg so we’ll see what happens," Fontaine said.
Flin Flon is 630 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.
Earlier Wednesday, Flin Flon began sending hospital patients out of the city ahead of the fire, which is menacing the region from the north.
Evacuees were urged to stay with family and friends, and earlier in the day, Kinew said public facilities, like rec centres, may be asked to open their doors to help out. He has said hotels in his province are already at capacity with fire refugees and convention attendees.
The fire began Monday across the boundary in nearby Creighton, Sask., and has since exploded in size.
Crews struggled early on to contain the blaze as water bombers were grounded due to a drone flying in the area.
Creighton Mayor Bruce Fidler said the 1,200 or so residents have also been told to leave town as soon as possible.
He said wildfire officials from Manitoba and Saskatchewan told him the fire could move closer by Thursday and cut off the roads outside of town.
“We declared a state of emergency and put out a mandatory evacuation so that we can get as many people out of the area as possible to be safe and before the roads become impassable,” Fidler said in an interview.
He said Highway 10 in Manitoba is open and Saskatchewan has opened up Highway 106 temporarily for people to make their way to Prince Albert.
From Manitoba to Alberta, wildfires have been forcing thousands of residents from their homes as the summer season heats up.
About 600 residents from the town of Lynn Lake, 775 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, are already out due to a rapidly advancing wildfire. Just two weeks ago, a blaze near the Rural Municipality of Lac du Bonnet forced close to 1,000 people to flee.
That fire destroyed 28 homes and cottages. Two people were killed.
There are 22 active wildfires in Manitoba. So far this year, Manitoba has experienced 102 fires, which officials say is "well above" the province's average of 77 at this time.
"Notably, we have burned over 198,000 hectares in Manitoba this year," said Kristin Hayward with the province's wildfire service. "Our five-year average annual hectares burned is 70,500 for the entire year, so we have almost tripled the amount of area burned in just one month."
Officials said firefighters from New Brunswick, Alberta, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island are helping to fight the flames.
On Sunday, a Parks Canada firefighter was severely injured in Manitoba and is in hospital.
In northern Saskatchewan, wildfire officials imposed a widespread fire ban after 2,100 people were evacuated from the communities of Pelican Narrows and Hall Lake. Conditions there have been tinder dry and nearly all wildfires have been caused by humans.
In north-central Alberta, the 1,300 residents of Swan Hills, 175 kilometres northwest of Edmonton, were ordered to leave Monday ahead of an advancing, wind-whipped fire, estimated to have grown to 36 square kilometres in size.
-- By Aaron Sousa in Edmonton and Jeremy Simes in Regina
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