Around 1500 residents of Oxford House were set to pass through Thompson yesterday as they were evacuated from the community due to a wildfire.

Three hundred evacuees were flown in to Thompson yesterday and bussed to the TRCC gymnasium before being flown south to Winnipeg and Brandon.

Mayor Colleen Smook, speaking from the TRCC yesterday during City Beat, shared some details.

“Once we hit our 500 magic number here, we’ve already told Emergency Measures and Red Cross that they will have to divert the planes from Oxford House straight to Winnipeg or Brandon, where they are going.”

The wildfire near Oxford House is one of six significant fires in northern Manitoba.

Further details, updates, restrictions, and other important wildfire information is available at gov.mb.ca/wildfire.