WINNIPEG — Ash and embers rained down on the northwestern Manitoba town of Leaf Rapids when an out-of-control wildfire entered the community Wednesday evening resulting in the damage of one home and several abandoned buildings.
Firefighters have been in the community for weeks establishing fire guards, managing vegetation and setting up value protection on critical infrastructure, but "intense fire behaviour" that ramped up over the course of a few hours prompted crews to temporarily leave the town.
"Crews talked about how the fire was essentially creating its own weather and there was all this additional wind and heat. The movement of the fire was just really, really rapid," said Kristin Hayward, with the province's wildfire service.
"That's one of the factors that led to folks feeling a bit unsafe remaining in community and retreating for a short period of time."
The province's latest fire information from Wednesday shows the blaze is 25 square kilometres in size.
Officials said the blaze jumped the Churchill River and entered the community through its industrial area on Wednesday night.
Crews attempted to control the fire with aerial resources, including heavy helicopters and water bombers, but were hampered visually by thick smoke.
"We had an aircraft in the air over the fire bucketing throughout the day and they made the decision to call water bombers to try to assist with cooling the fire down a bit. But it escalated so quickly within an hour or two," said Hayward.
"There was just nothing that really could be done to reduce that fire activity. The smoke was very, very thick as well over the fire and so any aircraft would have been pretty ineffective because they can't see what's below them and what they're dropping on."
Along with the one home, officials said five to seven structures were affected as well as some vehicles burned.
In a Facebook post Thursday morning, the town said the owner of the home has been contacted.
"The fire burnt forested area mainly in the north portion of town, with the south half seeing very little impact. Crews are in town and have been for some time, putting out hot spots to prevent further damage," the post read.
It also said some hydro poles leading into the town have burned, which could lead to power loss. Officials later said power remained intact in the community as of the afternoon.
Some confusion came when previous posts from the town indicated fire crews were told to evacuate, but did not elaborate that they eventually returned.
The town, which is overseen by a provincially appointed town administration, later clarified that fire crews returned.
The province said it is working with the town administration to make sure that residents, who were forced to leave Leaf Rapids more than two weeks ago, have accurate and timely information.
The government is looking to arrange town halls in the future for residents to get information.
Firefighters are also working to tackle a blaze near the northern town of Snow Lake, which is also evacuated.
Encroaching flames forced the evacuation of Hudbay's Lalor Mine on Wednesday evening.
"The fire did make a direct hit on that mine but the mine had been value protected so it had sprinklers running," said Hayward.
"The sprinkler setup worked and with the engine support from firefighters, they were able to keep damage to a minimal level."
Officials said fire activity near Tataskweyak Cree Nation is looking good and the community can look at bringing back residents, who have been displaced for more than a month.
Meanwhile, help from the federal government is on the way to fight fires in neighbouring Saskatchewan.
Marlo Pritchard with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency told a virtual news conference on Thursday that 300 firefighters with the Canadian Armed Forces are expected to start fighting the blazes Saturday.
The agency had previously refused asking for federal aid, saying Ottawa did not have what Saskatchewan needed.
Pritchard said the fires are less volatile than they were a month ago, and it's now safe for crews with lower levels of training to do mop-up work. The agency also needs the military to replace firefighters who need a break, he added.
"(Seven weeks ago) was not the right time. It is now," he said.
Saskatchewan reported 55 active wildfires, including five uncontained. About 3,000 people have been forced out of their homes due to the fires.
-- with files from Jeremy Simes in Regina.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2025.
Brittany Hobson, The Canadian Press
