Some Manitoba residents who have taken refuge in Niagara Falls, Ont., after fleeing wildfires raging in their province say they’re grateful for the hospitality but worry they won’t have a home to return to once the flames die down.
Kelly Ouskun says he saw so much fire and smoke along the highway on the drive from his family’s home in Split Lake to Thompson, about 145 kilometres away, that he felt “nauseated” and his eyes hurt.
The family flew to Niagara Falls from there and he says they’ve now settled in at one of the five downtown hotels taking in evacuees, while hanging on to hope that what he’s heard about his home — that it’s still standing and intact — is true.
More than 18,000 people have been displaced due to the wildfires in Manitoba since last week, including 5,000 residents of Flin Flon near the Saskatchewan boundary, along with members from at least four First Nations.
Some residents from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, east of Flin Flon, were taken to Niagara Falls on Sunday, with more arriving since then.
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So far, close to 2,000 evacuees have been put up in hotels near tourist attractions and the iconic Horseshoe Falls, with around 1,000 more expected to arrive in the coming days.
Graham Colomb, from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, was evacuated by helicopter from the reserve. Seeing the destruction from the sky left him heartbroken, he said.
“I was devastated, man, devastated seeing all that go up in flames. It was hard to see,” he said while sitting outside a Niagara Falls hotel along with roughly half a dozen others.
While he doesn’t have his own house and was living with a family member, Colomb said he’s unsure that home will still be standing when they get back.
“What I’m worried about is when we go back, I’m hoping that we still have a roof,” he said.
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