Evacuation efforts continue Thursday for Manitoba First Nations threatened by wildfires.
The Red Cross said as of Thursday afternoon a total of 1,800 people had been evacuated from Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Pauingassi First Nation, and Sapotaweyak Cree Nation.
Donovan Bushie was evacuated from Little Grand Rapids First Nation and arrived in Winnipeg Wednesday evening.
“It (the fire) got worse, it got smoky, the winds shifted,” he said.
“Planes couldn’t come in. We had to go across (the lake) because the fire was coming. The fire got too crazy and we had to go back across because the fire was coming towards us.”
WATCH: Aerial footage shows plumes of smoke over Little Grand Rapids, Man.
Willard Dunsford is also from Little Grand Rapids. This was his first time being evacuated.
“It was kind of terrifying for everybody,” he said. “I was kind of scared that I’d get stuck over there. I was really scared, me and my kids were scared.”
Lindros Keeper was evacuated from Pauingassi First Nation Thursday morning.
“I just hope everyone’s okay back home. Safe and sound,” said Keeper.
Several evacuees are staying at the Holiday Inn Hotel on Ellice Avenue.
Rescue planes and helicopters continue to fly into the communities through the day, some going through Red Lake, Ontario first before flying the evacuees south to Winnipeg.
A Hercules military aircraft with about 100 more evacuees was scheduled to arrive in Winnipeg late Thursday afternoon.
The Red Cross said their hope was to have all evacuation trips completed by the end of the day.
The provincial government confirmed Wednesday that the fire was human caused. It broke out on Monday.
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