Trapped by a raging wildfire rapidly encircling his construction site in Northwestern Ontario, Neal Gillespie and 18 members of his crew were forced to huddle inside shipping containers to save their lives.

For hours, while the sky around them turned fluorescent orange and the air filled with thick fumes, the construction workers near Sandy Lake First Nation stayed stuck in the cramped space. Helicopters made several rescue attempts, though the smoke prevented any landings. Eventually, the group had no choice but to flee.

As they ran to get in their vehicles, heading toward a safer part of the area, they saw the containers catch fire. “It was like watching what could have happened to us – how we also could have perished in that big blaze,” Mr. Gillespie said Sunday, recalling his narrow escape from the day before.

“All our training came in handy. The guys and I are thankfully safe, all mostly back now with our families. But I can’t help but think about what could have been, how we almost, really almost, didn’t make it.”

Wildfire Situation

The wildfire near Sandy Lake is one of more than 220 burning across the country, at least 98 of which are deemed out of control.

The fires have been largely spreading in Western Canada. Manitoba and Saskatchewan have evacuated more than 30,000 people, with both provinces under states of emergency. Officials in Alberta and British Columbia are contending with dozens of fires, too.

Now, new fires have led Ontario to request military support, with 26 actively burning in the northwest region.

Military Involvement

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday that he called upon the Canadian Armed Forces to airlift nearly 3,000 people from Sandy Lake First Nation, close to Mr. Gillespie’s construction site. A large fire is increasingly encroaching into the remote community, just under 450 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.

“We’re prepared to mobilize every resource needed to keep Canadians safe,” Mr. Carney said in a statement on social media, shortly after which he convened a meeting with ministers and senior officials from the Incident Response Group to discuss the emergency.

“To everyone who’s been impacted by these fires: we’re here for you.”

Captain Wyatt Shorter with the Canadian Joint Operations Command said military evacuation flights from Sandy Lake began Saturday evening and continued on Sunday.

“Over the last 24 hours, wildfire has advanced from 40 kilometres to just two kilometres from the community, placing the population at immediate risk,” he said.

Capt. Shorter said military-led evacuations from northern Manitoba have recently wrapped up, so the Sandy Lake operation will not be drawing resources away from other areas.

Evacuation Efforts

So far, evacuees from Sandy Lake have been taken to Red Lake, Ont., and Thunder Bay, he said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources in Ontario said helicopters and fire-ranger crews are focusing on protecting structures in the Sandy Lake area, while boats are being provided for residents to evacuate along with the aircraft.

In a statement, the City of Thunder Bay, roughly 600 kilometres from Sandy Lake, said it would serve as a hub to provide a safe place for evacuees to rest before they head toward longer-term accommodations in Southern Ontario. The city is also preparing to assist with more evacuations from other northern communities as needed in the coming days.

“These are extraordinary circumstances, and we are doing everything possible to support the safe arrival and temporary accommodation of Sandy Lake residents,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Ken Boshcoff.

“It’s in moments like these where the spirit of Northern Ontario and our commitment to one another is reflected in the way we respond.”

Mr. Gillespie, speaking from Winnipeg, said he and his crew members from Milestone Environmental Contracting and Sigfusson Northern had left their construction site to put fire breaks around Sandy Lake after community officials had asked for their help. They had been conducting some emergency planning for weeks in preparation for a possible fire.

“We were working there for a different building project,” he said. “But when we had heard about the wildfire nearby, we wanted to help, so we took our gear to do that. We had no idea the fire would jump on us like that, and that quickly.”

The construction workers, all but one of whom are from Manitoba, have now been flown away from the community.

“We’re incredibly lucky to be safe and sound,” Mr. Gillespie said. “And we can just pray now for the rest of Sandy Lake.”

Current Conditions

In Manitoba, officials said some precipitation and cooler temperatures provided little respite on the weekend, as the province faces 28 large wildfires.

The province said one fire is five times the size of Winnipeg, while another has reached roughly seven times that size. “To provide context as to the seriousness and size of the wildfires, the city of Winnipeg is approximately 46,000 hectares,” the Manitoba government stated in its fire-status bulletin Sunday.

Alberta and British Columbia, meanwhile, are grappling with 60 and 77 smaller fires, respectively. Still, B.C. officials said Sunday that conditions remain hot and dry across the province, showing potential for more fire activity over the next few weeks.

In Saskatchewan, however, officials are preparing to lift evacuation orders for some communities.

Marlo Pritchard, president and fire commissioner of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, said Sunday the recent rain has provided optimal conditions for firefighting efforts.

“But we cannot slow down,” he told reporters in a briefing. “This is the time where we can take advantage of this small window of opportunity. Gives us and our firefighter partners a small window of taking the fight directly to these fires while their intensity is lower.”

Source: The Globe and Mail.