Manitoba First Nations evacuate as wildfires burn millions of acres

First Nations in Manitoba are urging for improved firefighting equipment and infrastructure as wildfires force mass evacuations, according to a report by ICT. Nearly five million acres have burned or are burning across Canada, with more than 20,000 people displaced in Manitoba alone, most of them from First Nations communities.

At a June 2 press conference, Chief Goldie Bear of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, said his community lacks basic firefighting tools, stating, “We have nothing but hoses for our garden, rakes for the lawn. Nothing to fight fire, nothing.” Grand Chief Kyra Wilson of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs also called attention to inadequate airstrips that prevented large evacuation aircraft from landing. Evacuations and air quality alerts continue as 25 active fires burn across the province.