An evacuee from the Lac du Bonnet area says it’s been an emotional time dealing with the impact of the wildfire that has engulfed the area, especially with Wednesday’s news that two people were killed in the blaze.
Ron Burley, one of thousands who had to flee as wildfires continue to grip Manitoba, told 680 CJOB’s The Start that his cottage is at the end of Wendigo Road at Grausdin Point, where there’s only one road in and one road out.
While driving away to escape the wildfire, the choice to make a turn partway through may have saved his life, Burley said.
“We thought we were one of the last ones out … I didn’t think we could continue to Wendigo toward Highway 313, so we made the decision to turn left and head towards Lee River Road, or head east,” he said.
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“The bodies were what was ahead, for sure — the two bodies they found.”
Burley said the last he heard, his home was still there, but he’s nervous about what he might find when it’s safe to go back.
One of his neighbours, he said, had a particularly harrowing experience trying to reach safety. The man, a senior, was at home packing, when the situation became untenable and driving away from the area was no longer an option.
“Once I got in the clear, I got a call from one of my neighbours saying she didn’t know that what was going on was as bad as it was,” Burley said.
“(The man) was behind us still, and I just cut her off and said … you need to call him and tell him not to drive out. He needs to get into the kayak or swim to the golf course. He won’t make it out.
“She got a hold of him pretty quick — he pulled his kayak out, (at) 78 years old, into the water and kayaked across the lake to the golf course.”
Burley said the sobering experience has given him more appreciation for the work of emergency personnel who have spent long hours battling the blaze and helping survivors to safety.
“You always hear they’re called heroes … it’s a total understatement to me,” he said.
“Standing in that, fighting for strangers’ homes, it’s unreal. It’s two days later and still emotional. You think, ‘It’s just stuff’… but then you hear what we found out yesterday (about the two deaths).
“It just brings everything to a different magnitude of what we all went through.”
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