This story was last updated at 11 p.m. Friday.
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.
Snow Lake upgraded their local evacuation order to a mandatory one Friday, but for Flin Flon, there may be a welcome sight this weekend - rain.
Snow Lake.
The community, which had a voluntary evacuation order in place since earlier this week, pulled the trigger on a mandatory evacuation Friday. As of Friday afternoon, everyone in the community must be out by noon Saturday, according to the official notice.
"The Town of Snow Lake has declared a state of local emergency because of threat of wildfire, as per council resolution No. 2025/196. Please leave by June 7, 2025 at noon," reads the notice.
Residents are asked to take vital items like money, credit cards, birth certificates, passports, medication, clothing, hygiene items, clothing, pets and food. Residents are also asked to turn off their home's water supply, shut off lights and appliances, lock their homes and avoid turning off their furnaces.
Manitoba Highway 10 was briefly closed to traffic around Wanless Friday, but was eventually reopened, allowing Snow Lakers to get out of the area down Highway 10. The road is still shut off north of the Fidler's Corner junction, blocking off travellers to Cranberry Portage and areas north. Manitoba Highway 6 is still open despite a fire burning near it, but visibility in the area is still considered "poor" as per Manitoba 511.
Weather
Another decisive moment in fighting the fires could come overnight Friday and over the weekend - according to multiple weather forecasts, Flin Flon might be about to get its first rain in nearly a month.
Environment Canada forecasts state that rain will start between Friday night and Saturday morning as of 11 p.m. Friday, including a 60 per cent chance of showers through Saturday.
The Environment Canada forecast also calls for rain through much of Sunday, but a return to hot, dry conditions for the area through most of next week.
Environment Canada is not the only weather forecasting service predicting rain this weekend. The Weather Network is predicting cloudy weather with showers starting around 9 a.m. Saturday morning, continuing through to late Sunday night. The Weather Channel is predicting a 60 per cent chance of showers through Sunday, while showers are also in the forecast for both Saturday and Sunday from both AccuWeather and the Weather Underground.
If rain does indeed come, it will be sorely needed and only the third time since the spring snow melt Flin Flon has received any kind of precipitation. Archival data shows there has been no confirmed reports of rain since May 12, then none since May 1 before that - since most snow in the area melted in April, it's only rained twice in Flin Flon this summer.
Flin Flon
Twelve days into the local firefighting effort, fires have still not yet hit any structures in either Flin Flon or Creighton, according to local officials.
"No structures have been lost in Flin Flon or Creighton as of last night. Winds in the area are now blowing from the south, resulting in heavy smoke and fire moving towards the south side of Flin Flon. Fire protection including sprinklers have been set up and fire crews will be working in the Channing area to protect property in the area," reads a City of Flin Flon update issued June 6.
"The Sherridon, Creighton,and Wolf Lake fires have merged: the fire is now approximately 140 kilometres long, and 5 kilometres wide. Of the 260 personnel deployed on the ground, approximately 100 are assisting Creighton, while 150 are assisting Flin Flon."
"The crews are monitoring the community and continue to put out any hot spots they may find," reads a similar June 6 update from the Town of Creighton.
"They have crews working on protecting the community. [There is] still no loss of structures reported within Creighton. The mandatory evacuation remains in effect. No one other than authorized personal should be in the Town or region. We will inform residents when it is safe to return home. This may take some time as essential services need to be restored."
Denare Beach has not been so lucky - dozens of homes, sheds, garages and other structures burned to cinders earlier this week after strong winds pushed the Wolf fire onto Missi Island, then directly at Denare Beach. There still is no confirmed count of how many buildings were destroyed in the flames, but video sent to The Reminder showing the community after the fire show several homes, mainly in the community's south side, burned to the ground.
The City of Flin Flon will be conducting full checks for pets left behind in the area during the evacuation, according to an announcement made Friday afternoon. Flin Flon city councillor Judy Eagle has, according to the announcement, returned to Flin Flon and will be conducting welfare checks for pets left behind, ensuring they're okay, fed and looked after as best as possible.
"Councillor Eagle is a critical part of our logistics team supporting the firefighting efforts," reads the City announcement.
Hotspots
As of late Friday, the most active areas for hotspots - according to Natural Resources Canada data - have been in the area north of Amisk Lake, between the northern portions of the lake and the Hanson Lake Road. Other hotspot clusters have been reported south of Phantom Lake and by parts of the west arm of Schist Lake. Scattered pockets of hotspots have been reported in the fire's far northeast corner, including some nearing the WE025 fire near Pukatawagan - the Pukatawagan fire has not yet joined with the other massive complex, but is only a couple of kilometres of forest away from potentially doing so.
All told, the four fires around Flin Flon - the Club/WE024 fire, the Pelican Fire, the Wolf fire and the WE017 fire near Sherridon - have burned almost a combined 500,000 hectares of forest. The WE017 and WE023 fires had extra resources on them Friday, including American fire crews brought up to assist.
The Shoe fire, located in north-central Saskatchewan mainly along and near southern portions of the Hanson Lake Road, has hit over 640,000 hectares of land burned and counting, growing closer to La Ronge according to Natural Resources Canada data - La Ronge is already being hit by the Pisew fire, which has hit almost 150,000 hectares in size and has already destroyed a pair of local businesses.
Flin Flon, Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Cranberry Portage and all nearby cabin and camping areas are still under full evacuation orders, with no timetable announced for when that may change. Bakers Narrows, Channing and Schist Lake have all been under threat by recent fires, but water drops by helicopter, ground crew work and asset protection like sprinklers have helped keep fires at bay there.
All roads into and out of the Flin Flon area are fully closed to the public and the evacuation order is still in place, but fire crews in the region pushed the smoke back further Friday.
This week's issue of The Reminder is both online-only and free -
