ManitobaResidents of Lynn Lake can soon return home, more than three weeks after a wildfire ordered an evacuation of the northern Manitoba community. ‘I’ve gone blue in the face,’ mayor says after evacuees stuck sleeping on cots for 3 weeksCBC News · Posted: Jun 19, 2025 10:55 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoSmoke billows from a wildfire burning in the area of Lynn Lake a few weeks ago. The town will rescind its evacuation order on Friday morning. (Submitted by Marcel Colomb First Nation)Residents of Lynn Lake can soon return home, more than three weeks after a wildfire ordered an evacuation of the northern Manitoba community. The town said in a Facebook post Thursday night that residents can return home as of Friday at 8 a.m.Buses are being arranged for those who need assistance, and town officials will be in contact with those individuals, according to the Facebook post.Officials are telling residents, however, they must be ready to evacuate with little notice if fire conditions worsen.Lynn Lake Mayor Brandon Dulewich said the pending return to their town brings an “overwhelming feeling of joy” for him, as well as the evacuees who spent a few weeks sleeping on cots in a makeshift shelter in Thompson, more than 200 kilometres away.”They’ve been out of the community for I think 24 days now, but we’ve been trying to bring you home forever.”Delays in reopening ERDulewich said the evacuation order would have been rescinded earlier if health-care services in the town of roughly 600 people could have been restored faster. The emergency department opened again on Thursday, the mayor said.The fire near Lynn Lake is over 71,000 hectares and remains out of control, according to a provincial wildfire bulletin issued on Thursday.Earlier in the day, Kristin Hayward, assistant deputy minister of the Conservation Officer Service and the Manitoba Wildfire Service, said the north half of the blaze is actively burning but the south part, closer to the community, is looking better.The town said on Facebook that “hot spots” from the wildfire remain close to the community.”There is a continued risk of smoke and falling ash, especially during periods of increased wind and heat.”Dulewich commended the people of Thompson for voluntarily looking after his community, which is just over 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.He’s disappointed that Lynn Lake residents had to endure weeks in a shelter, sleeping on cots, while evacuees from other areas were flown to Winnipeg and stayed in hotel rooms.He wants a fairer system to be developed.”I’ve gone blue in the face, yelling at different agencies, trying to get the basic humane living conditions for the citizens of Lynn Lake,” Dulewich said.”It’s unbelievable that they had to have to stay in the makeshift shelter for this long.”The Lynn Lake Facebook post also says the restoration of electricity is underway and a boil-water advisory remains in effect.With files from Stephen Ripley
Lynn Lake residents to return home as wildfire threat fades, health services start to be restored
