THUNDER BAY — The City of Thunder Bay will host a still-undetermined number of Red Lake residents displaced by a forest fire burning on the outskirts of the municipality.
The decision was announced following discussions involving city officials and local agencies Tuesday morning.
"This is an evolving situation, and the number of evacuees to arrive in the city is still developing at this time," the city said in a statement.
A source told Tbnewswatch earlier in the day that the city had indicated it may be able to accommodate 500 to 600 evacuees, however the city's announcement did not include that detail.
In the statement, Mayor Bill Mauro said "Thunder Bay will do everything we can to support our neighbouring community as they face this dire situation."
City Manager Norm Gale said the city has been in discussions with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit about issues related to hosting evacuees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Prevention measures are in place in Thunder Bay, and evacuees will abide by the health and safety measures in our community," Gale said, adding that there are no active COVID-19 cases in Red Lake.
In an interview with Tbnewswatch, Red Lake Mayor Fred Mota estimated that 1,800 of his community's 4,100 residents have already sought shelter in other centres including Dryden and Ear Falls.
Mota said hospital patients were taken to safety by air ambulance, and residents of a nursing home were transferred by bus.
The mayor was anxious, however, for the arrival of aircraft at Red Lake to transport other people needing help to get out of town.
"We have residents here who are wanting to get out of the community, and we support them as much as we can. But our hands are tied with regard to flights and what PEOC [the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre] is presently doing," Mota said.
PEOC has indicated it's still working to arrange for flights, he said, describing the wait as "frustrating."
Mota was expecting an update from the agency later in the day.
He said he's concerned because the weather forecast calls for a change in wind direction on Wednesday, which would push the fire directly into Red Lake.
Late Tuesday morning, the fire was still two kilometres from Highway 105, which connects Red Lake to Highway 17.
Important infrastructure such as power lines, telecommunications and fibre-optic cables run through the Highway 105 corridor, and natural gas service has already been shut off for safety reasons.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry said the area burned now covers 550 hectares.
It has assigned five waterbombers as well as ground crews and an Incident Response Team.
Spokesperson Chris Marchand said extreme burning conditions persist, with strong wind currently pushing the fire "away from Madsen, to the east."
Marchand was unable to confirm that a potentially dangerous change in wind is expected Wednesday, saying he hadn't received the latest weather briefing.
The Northwestern Health Unit issued an advisory about the fire, saying multiple communities in the area are likely to experience smoke in the air.
It said children, the elderly, pregnant women, and people with heart or lung conditions should restrict the time they are exposed to the smoke by keeping windows and doors closed, using air filters and reducing physical activity.
Health officials also cautioned evacuees to continue to follow physical distancing guidelines and to limit close contact with others outside their family or social circles while sheltered.
