The mayor of a northern Manitoba city that came under serious threat from wildfires encroaching on its borders this summer says things are starting to return to normal.
Flin Flon’s George Fontaine told Global Winnipeg that when residents returned from being evacuated, they came back to some semblance of normalcy, with community leaders and business owners trying to maintain the status quo.
“(Things have) been going incredibly smoothly,” Fontaine said.
“We got back, thinking we wouldn’t have any groceries … but we have one big grocery store in our community, and it was almost fully stocked. The people there did incredible work to set things up for us.
“Other emergency businesses were set up in a very methodical fashion, so when people came back, there were very few glitches.”
The mayor said it took a bit longer for medical facilities to get back up and running, so people with chronic conditions were urged to delay their return home, but the situation has improved to the point where even residents of personal care homes have returned.
Flin Flon, he says, resembles its pre-wildfire state … mostly.
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“If you come into our community, it’s interesting, because they saved kind of a horseshoe (shape) all the way in, of the forest.
“You can drive in and it almost looks relatively unscathed, until you get not very far out of town, and then in any direction, you see all kinds of desolation.”
The departure — and return — of thousands of Flin Flon residents means the community is much more cognizant of the possibilities, he said, building on a similar experience last year in which fires didn’t come close enough to warrant evacuation.
“We’re OK. People are watching, people are being careful … but because of all the diligent work the firefighters did in putting out all the hot spots and that sort of thing around our community, we’re in a relatively safe zone now.
“But everyone’s cautious. They’ve done it once, they know the drill, they know the potential dangers.”
Don Lamont of the Manitoba Lodges and Outfitters Association told Global Winnipeg the wildfire situation has been ‘traumatic’ for the association’s members, especially given evacuations in Flin Flon and surrounding areas.
“I think about two-thirds of our operators have been affected one way or another,” Lamont said.
“One thing was the Flin Flon airport was closed for quite a while, because they needed it to fight the forest fires — and a lot of our operators who are north of the 53rd parallel, they rely on float planes to get their customers in.”
Lamont said most outfitters in the area are unsure about the future when it comes to financial assistance, but the association is talking to all levels of government in hopes of coming up with a solution.
The good news, he said, is that despite the devastation caused by wildfires, northern Manitoba’s forests always grow back, and there will always be demand in the region once the threat of fires is over.
“The boreal forest grows back really quickly,” he said.
“By two or three years, it’s all green again. It will return quickly, and our outfitters are some of the best in the world and they supply a great experience, so hopefully we can work our way through this.”
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Thousands set to return home after fires force Flin Flon, Man., residents out -
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Flin Flon residents returning home -
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