The City of Winkler stands ready to potentially receive several hundred evacuees from Manitoba’s raging wildfires.
The field hall at the Meridian Exhibition Centre in Winkler has been transformed into an evacuation centre for those fleeing the wildfires in northern Manitoba
With a state of emergency having been declared in the province and upwards of 17,000 people forced to flee their homes in the affected areas, the Meridian Exhibition Centre was transformed into an evacuation centre last week.
“We recognized that the vast majority of these evacuees are going to end up in Winnipeg, maybe in Brandon … but given the sheer numbers, we reached out and suggested if they were looking for more space, we were available,” Mayor Henry Siemens said, noting they’re working with both the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization and the Canadian Red Cross.
Members of the local fire and police departments, city staff, and volunteers got to work setting up hundreds of cots inside the fieldhouse at the exhibition centre last Thursday.
“We scrambled like crazy,” noted Siemens. “We quickly put in the hard surface floor [over the indoor turf] and got the cots set up.”
Once word got out, the community at large quickly stepped up to offer support.
“We had Gardenland Co-op immediate reach out and say, ‘We’ll provide food, we’ll make that happen,’” shared Siemens. “And we’ve had church groups reach out to ask, ‘What do you need? Can we provide activities?’”
Winkler is also working with the City of Morden on this, as the Access Event Centre there has a full kitchen that can be used to prepare large quantities of food as needed.
“Honestly, it’s been overwhelming the response that has come from absolutely everyone,” Siemens said. “It’s so good to see the type of community we have … stepping up and saying, ‘Hey, our neighbours are hurting right now, and we want to help.’”
City staff are ready to greet the evacuees whenever they arrive, Siemens noted, “recognizing that many of the people are coming in from very, very stressful, intense situations—they’ve literally just left everything they know behind with no idea if it it’ll be there when they come back. So we want to make sure we support them and care for them and offer kindness in any way that we can.”
As of press time, Winkler had not yet received any evacuees.
“We were told a couple of times this weekend that several hundred were coming, but ultimately they were able to find accommodations in Winnipeg and didn’t need to come,” Siemens said on Monday.
“The situation evolves hour by hour,” he noted. “From what we understand, the fact that we don’t have anyone yet is a very good thing—it means the Winnipeg evacuation centres are able to handle the load … we don’t have clear direction on if/when that might change.
“We will be ready if needed.”
As of right now, organizers have everything covered to provide evacuees with what they need, but if additional help or donations are required, they will let the community know through the City’s website and social media platforms.
Siemens said people who want to help are urged to make a donation to the Canadian Red Cross in support of wildfire relief efforts.
He also noted that all programs and rentals at the Meridian Exhibition Centre for the immediate future are cancelled. Further details will be released once it becomes clear how the situation will unfold.
