The Manitoba government say it’s still fully engaged in the ongoing battle against wildfires.
Officials said Monday that there were 120 active fires in Manitoba right now — total of 331 for the year, which is well above the 20-year average of 243 at this time.
During an update last Thursday, the province said there were 118 wildfires burning across Manitoba.
The silver lining, however, is that although the number of fires is up, no new evacuation orders have been issued.
Get breaking National news
Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister, Conservation Officer Service and Manitoba Wildfire Service, said the smoky conditions certainly haven’t helped things improve in northern Manitoba.
“The smoky conditions are impacting our ability to action from the air specifically,” she said.
“But the good thing is that sometimes very smoky conditions lessen fire behaviour, so we don’t see the fires as active those days either.
“We’ve had challenges getting crews out to the fire where we would need access through helicopter, as well as just being able to bucket using a helicopter, it has been limited by smoke as well sometimes.
Hayward spoke to media Monday afternoon from the Manitoba legislature, alongside Christine Stevens, assistant deputy minister, Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.
Comments