Note: This story is a live file and will be updated as new information arrives. This story was last updated at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
Staff members from The Reminder have evacuated Flin Flon, but will keep writing updates as long as possible during the emergency. If you have questions or concerns you would like us to chase or add here about the fire, evacuations or anything else, please notify us at [email protected].
Anyone seeking to register with the Red Cross or to donate to their campaign can do so at https://www.redcross.ca/2025manitobawildfires or 1-800-863-6582.
Flin Flon and Creighton are still intact Thursday and the nearby fire has been kept at bay. People evacuated from the region aren't likely to return this week, but small steps toward that are coming.
The mandatory evacuation order for Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach and most nearby communities remains in effect as of Thursday.
Flin Flon deputy mayor Alison Dallas-Funk provided an update on the situation late Wednesday night, saying that the fight against fires is ongoing. While Pelican Narrows and Cranberry Portage have announced their evacuation orders have lifted, Flin Flon is not yet ready to follow suit - the fire is much closer to Flin Flon and Creighton than other communities and is still a danger to flare up and cause more damage if not closely monitored.
"We worked on the re-entry plan again and hopefully, we'll be able to start actually utilizing that soon," said Dallas-Funk.
Dallas-Funk also explained that Cranberry Portage is far away from the active fire site and, after Cranberry Portage's brush with forest fires last year, there is natural firebreak that could keep the area protected if the blaze kicks back up. Flin Flon is not in the same position.
"I know that it was announced today that Cranberry Portage was going to be allowed to come home on Saturday. I know there are a lot of questions like, 'Why does Cranberry get to go home and we don't?' There are a couple factors here," said Dallas-Funk.
"The fire is currently, right now, approximately 25 kilometres from Cranberry Portage. Cranberry also had a fire last year, which provides some protection for them. Right now, they don't have a lot of fuel around them. We are not in the same boat. The fire line is right against our community. We don't have a lot of fire protection with burnt forest already. If the weather gets really hot or the wind kicks up, then we might not be in that safety envelope that I talked about yesterday. We want to make sure we can walk away from this and not bring everybody home too soon."
Some key things still need to happen for Flin Flonners to be able to move back safely - access to health care, transportation, clean drinking water and the like. Flin Flon's drinking water system is still fully functioning, said Dallas-Funk, keeping the city from what would otherwise be a major hurdle to reopening efforts.
"We have a couple of people to ensure or water is up and running and we have no issues. It's also drinkable at this point, so we're really grateful for that too," she said.
The Town of Creighton also shared some local infrastructure news Thursday, stating that the precautionary boil water advisory that was in place for the town has now been lifted.
"One step closer to coming home," reads a statement issued by the Town.
Around 200 people are fighting the blaze at the moment, ranging from Manitoba Wildfire Services personnel, local firefighters and other fire crews from municipal fire departments across Manitoba who have come north to battle the blaze, as well as Parks Canada crews. The Flin Flon Airport and Flin Flon City Hall have become operations centres for the efforts, while some locals have stayed behind to help feed and shelter the incoming firefighters. Dallas-Funk, along with Chicken Chef's Dan and Dawn Hlady and others, have been providing food - meanwhile, Flin Flon councillor Judy Eagle has come back north and is monitoring and feeding people's pets, many of which were unable to be brought along when evacuation was called.
Natural Resources Canada mapping shows the fire has not grown substantially in a few days and no new hotspots have been reported Thursday, though hotspot detection, usually done through satellite imagery, can be hindered by local cloud cover or smoke. The fire, which now stretches around 200 kilometres from around Pelican Narrows in the west to north of Snow Lake to the east, has burned around 516,000 hectares of land according to Natural Resources Canada data. The fire is still considered "out of control" by both the Manitoba Wildfire Service and Natural Resources Canada.
Highways near the community have improved. Manitoba Highway 10 is partially open for traffic, closing north of the junction with Manitoba Highway 39 - "Fidler's corner" - for all but emergency traffic. The Hanson Lake Road - Saskatchewan Highway 106 - is partially open, with roads from Candle Lake and Smeaton open to the junction with Pelican Narrows. The stretch of the road from that junction to Creighton and Flin Flon is still closed as of Thursday afternoon.
Kinew, province announcements
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew and a provincial delegation flew to the area Thursday, meeting with local officials and firefighters. Kinew and company were also scheduled to go to Thompson and visit evacuees in Winnipeg later in the day.
While Kinew was in Thompson, provincial officials made two announcements - first, they announced the launch of a mobile MRI service that will serve northern communities. The service officially started in Thompson June 6 and will rotate between Thompson and The Pas going forward - the MRI will not be coming to the Flin Flon area.
“We made a commitment to improve access to care in our health system and we take that commitment seriously,” said health minister Uzoma Asagwara.
“This mobile MRI unit is an important step in reducing MRI wait times and ensuring that patients in the north have timely access to critical diagnostic services closer to home."
Another announcement may be useful for Flonners - tax deferrals were announced for northern business-owners who have been affected by fires. Northern business representatives can now request a penalty and interest waiver whenever they can next file and pay provincial taxes and levies, like retail sales tax, health and post-secondary education tax leives and others, after the fires are over.
“Our government is stepping up to help businesses who have not been able to operate due to the wildfire situation,” said provincial finance minister Adrien Sala in Winnipeg.
“Our main priority as a government has been to keep people safe and supporting Manitobans impacted by wildfires. This wildfire season has been worse than many in recent years and we’re using every tool available to us to help Manitobans during this challenging period.”
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