Making the call to evacuate Flin Flon was easy according to Mayor George Fontaine.

He said as he drove down the highway that day, he could see the flames on the outskirts of the City.

He was then met by conservation officers who said they were uncertain they could hold the fire back.

Fontaine talks here about what he did find difficult.

“It’s tough on your mind when you realize what it is that you are asking people to do. We ask them to leave their residences and everything that they know and that they are comfortable with. Not having a chance to grab a whole lot of anything and not knowing how long they are going to be gone so in that respect, it’s very difficult.”

The evacuation order came through last Thursday and all 5-thousand Flin Flon residents are still out of their community.

There are currently 15 communities under mandatory evacuation orders and another three under voluntary evacuation.

Three others — Snow Lake, Norway House and Chemawawin Cree Nation (Easterville) — are under evacuation alerts or notices, with people ordered to be ready to leave with short notice.