This story was last updated at 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
Flin Flon — After almost a month with bone-dry weather, Flin Flon finally has some rainfall.
According to home surveillance video, on-the-ground reports and Environment Canada data, the Flin Flon area got some rainfall overnight Sunday and it is continuing through Sunday morning. It is the first time Flin Flon has received any precipitation at all since May 12 and just the third time there's been any rain at all in Flin Flon since snow melted earlier this spring.
The rain was originally forecast to come Saturday and stay in some form through the weekend — that hasn't happened as expected. The rain may stop Sunday afternoon, but Environment Canada forecasts say it may return late Monday and into Tuesday. Less rain than originally expected has fallen as well, but enough to leave puddles behind on properties in the area has already come down.
The weather has also brought two other key changes, one that may help firefighting efforts and another that might hinder them. The showers have been part of a crest of cold weather the past few days - the Sunday high will be around a mere 13 degrees, with overnight lows in the single digits, while Monday and Tuesday are forecasting highs in the teens.
The second change is a return of fast wind gusts — blowing from the northwest at 30 kilometres an hour, up to 50 in some places. Those winds are expected to last until at least Sunday night, slowing down overnight and potentially slowing further Monday.
Fires
The fire complex affecting Pelican Narrows, Creighton, Denare Beach, Flin Flon, Sherridon and multiple other communities has grown to over 515,000 hectares in size - nearly a million football fields' worth of size and almost the same size as the entire metro area of Winnipeg. Few new hotspots with the fire have been reported as of Sunday morning, possibly due to the cold weather and rainfall.
The situation around the region remains somewhat stable heading into Sunday. The Club/WE024 fire and all the fires it has joined reported little new growth Saturday and early Sunday. Fire growth near Channing along Mitchell Road was reported late Friday, but it was mostly subdued Saturday and the area, including Flin Flon, Creighton and Channing, remains safe as of Sunday morning. No structures have burned within the area.
"No structures in Flin Flon have been lost as of this evening. The fire has not advanced due to favourable winds blowing the fire back on itself, allowing crews to patrol and monitor for hot spots," reads a Saturday night update from the City of Flin Flon on the situation.
"Crews are monitoring the community and continue to put out any hotspots they may find - a couple of flare-ups, but they were quickly put out," reads another update from the Town of Creighton, issued Saturday.
American fire crews will be working around cabin areas by Bakers Narrows, Schist Lake and closer to Cranberry Portage, with more crews arriving in the area later this week. Asset protection, including sprinklers, has been set up at different cabin areas, while heavy equipment will be running in various areas.
According to an update from the Northern Village of Denare Beach, water bombers were able to attack the Wolf fire from the air Saturday and crews continue to work in the area. While many homes in the area are confirmed to have burned, according to local leaders and video taken from the area after the Wolf fire rolled through, exactly how many have burned is still not yet confirmed.
The Village did confirm some key pieces of infrastructure are still standing - the community's water treatment plant, sewer treatment plant and lift stations are still up.
"Once it is deemed safe for our public works crew to return, they will begin to determine if any damage occurred and what the next steps are to get both systems back online," reads the update.
Full and mandatory evacuations still remain in effect for almost all area communities, with no timetable yet announced for when it may be safe to return. According to Manitoba 511 and the Saskatchewan Highway Hotline, all roads leading into and out of Flin Flon are still closed - Manitoba Highway 10 is open up to the junction with Highway 39.
All main access points to the Hanson Lake Road are closed and blocked off, along with Saskatchewan Highway 167 to Denare Beach and Saskatchewan Highway 135 to Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay. Saskatchewan Highway 911 to Deschambault Lake is still listed as open, but the Hanson Lake Road to either side of the road's end is closed.
Manitoba Highway 392, the road to Snow Lake, is also closed to all traffic except essential services. Highway 39 and 6 are open in their entirety, though visibility may be poor because of smoke depending on which way winds blow from.
Cancellations
With the fire evacuation now entering its third week, community groups and organizations are pre-emptively cancelling plans for later this month.
Creighton Community School announced Saturday that it would be remaining closed for the rest of the school year, with students' grades as of May 28 - the final day of classes before the evacuation order was issued - being their final grades for the year.
"This decision has been made with the health and safety of our students, staff and families as our top priority."
No updates have been announced for the school's annual graduation ceremony, which was slated to take place later this month.
Meanwhile in Flin Flon, the Flin Flon Fireworks Committee, who oversee the annual fireworks displays in Flin Flon for Canada Day and Denare Beach for Beaver Lake Day, announced Saturday they will be cancelling their displays for both events. The group, which consists solely of volunteers, most of whom have been evacuated from the area, cited potential fire risk as the reason for the move.
"To us, it doesn’t make any sense to risk starting more fires in town because of them. It would definitely be very dangerous, with all the dry grass and bush still untouched by the fires to have sparks flying around," reads the group's statement.
"There aren’t enough words we can say to thank anyone and everyone who risked their lives to save our community. It is a rare trait to rush towards danger to risk your life for others you might not even know. It’s not just the firemen and firewomen, it’s also the pilots flying the water bombers, the people delivering the supplies they desperately need, everyone who helped to set up rest areas and cooked food, the logistics people and the suppliers/owners of equipment sent to fight the fires."
