Wildfire continues march toward Red River
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/05/2021 (1074 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A wildfire that broke out Saturday afternoon near Breezy Point was still burning Monday.
The fire started on the east side of the Red River on Crown land, adjacent to the Rural Municipality of St. Clements, according to St. Clements chief administrative officer Deepak Joshi.
The fire continued to burn into the weekend. Manitoba Conservation and the Office of the Fire Commissioner were called in to battle the blaze some 50 kilometres north of Winnipeg, along with firefighters from the East Selkirk Fire Hall.
Provincial water bombers were brought in after a second, smaller fire started heading south around 4 p.m. Sunday. It was declared out around 9 p.m.
St. Clements firefighters also managed the fire on the ground level and monitored the area until 1 a.m. Monday.
A spokesperson from the province confirmed there were no properties impacted by the fire and it is being monitored by local crews.
A drone operated by the RM is being used regularly to monitor the fire, but Joshi said it is now “somewhat considered in control” and is headed toward the river. It’s not possible to fight the blaze where it stands now, as the location of the fire — which has no nearby roads — makes it difficult for ground crews to reach it.
“It looks like they’re just going to monitor and manage it, especially because it’s so difficult to reach that area,” he said.
There is no estimated time the fire will reach the Red River.
A burn ban has been in place in the RM of St. Clements since May 6, and all fires anywhere north of Provincial Road 317 have been prohibited.
Despite this, Joshi said, crews believe the blaze may have been started because of human error.
“We had shared that with all our residents and on our website, but as you can appreciate there are non-residents coming to utilize the resources in the area,” he said.
There have been around 4,300 acres of land impacted by the fire so far.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: malakabas_
