Norway House Cree Nation has declared a state of emergency as crews battled a wildfire in the northern Manitoba First Nation Friday.
About 381 people have been evacuated from homes on Fort Island, in the northeastern part of the First Nation and about 460 kilometres north of Winnipeg, Chief Season Roulette told CBC News Friday evening.
Water bombers, helicopters and firefighters crews were deployed to fight a blaze which as of 6 p.m. was assessed to be one square kilometre in size, the chief said.
Roulette said the fire was detected earlier Friday. Roadblocks were put in place at all bridges connecting to the island as the fire moved north to an area that includes the community’s new hospital, as well as a school, Norway House said in a social media post earlier that day.
“It’s near the health centre, it’s near homes,” resident Samantha Folster said Friday evening.
“We’re just hoping that it can be contained and that we … don’t have to worry about a full evacuation,” she said.
“The fire is in the central area [of Fort Island]. Like, literally in the centre. So it’s kind of worrisome.”
Roulette said Norway House is so far not expecting further evacuations, and that there are no plans to extend evacuations beyond Fort Island at this point.
Crews have been mobilized to build guards to prevent the fire from moving toward the hospital and surrounding areas. Additional fire trucks, sprinkler pumps and hoses were expected to arrive in Norway House Saturday noon, the chief said in a report posted on social media.
Roulette told CBC News there were no concerns about the fire impacting Norway’s House airport, which is on the southern tip of Fort Island.
About 7,000 people live on the reserve, according to federal statistics.
The fire comes while most of the province is under a heat warning, with an Environment and Climate Change Canada alert from earlier Friday forecasting daytime highs near 30 C for Norway House heading into next week.
Roulette said the dry weather is concerning, and the community must monitor closely the situation as it enters wildfire season.