‘Tight-Knit’ Communities Rally to Help Grateful Fire Evacuees in Northern BC, Alberta, Manitoba

Fort Nelson, B.C., evacuees at the North Peace Arena in Fort St. John, B.C., on May 13, 2024. The Canadian Press/Jesse Boily

Kelleen Blouin was away visiting relatives when residents of her northwestern Manitoba hometown of Cranberry Portage was forced to evacuate because of an approaching out-of-control wildfire on May 11.

Over 500 people were forced to flee the region, some 700 kilometres north of Winnipeg, with almost no time to prepare or pack.