Winds have continued to drive wildfires in the province, officials said Sunday.

The fire near Beresford Lake has increased in size to approximately 20,000 hectares and has reached the lake. Sprinkler protection continues on cabins in the area. The mandatory evacuation of the Beresford cottage subdivision of Nopiming Provincial Park continues.

Jodi Moskal left her Long Lake cabin Sunday morning, though no evacuation orders are in place there, yet.

“We couldn’t breathe anymore, (the smoke) was so thick. So we packed up and left,” she said.

Yesterday Moskal tweeted a picture of clear blue skies over the lake; she posted another Sunday morning where you couldn’t even see the dock through the smoke.

“I’ve never seen smoke like that, so close,” she said. “You couldn’t see across the lake this morning ... that’s how smoky it was when we woke up.”

Moskal said the Long Lake and Beresford Lake communities are very tight-knit.

“There are two lakes that are very close, both in proximity and friends as well — I’m very worried about my neighbours. Hopefully there’s no loss of property, and hopefully the firefighters stay safe.”

There were no further evacuations Saturday evening.

Provincial Road 312 remains closed.

The fire six kilometres northeast of Caddy Lake, on the Manitoba/Ontario border, has also increased in size to approximately 1,000 hectares. This fire is impacting several lakes, including West Hawk, Florence and Nora Lakes, and McDougalls Landing. Sprinkler setups continue for cabins in these areas.

Many of the cottages can only be accessed by boat or walking in.

Grounds crews, water bombers and helicopters from both Manitoba Sustainable Development (MSD) and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources continue to battle the fires.

MSD, Southeast Whiteshell Fire Department and the Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner continue joint suppression efforts to battle border-area wildfires.

Travel/campfire restrictions

Burning permits for the eastern, central and western areas of the province remain cancelled and motorized back-country travel is banned between noon and 7 p.m. daily in southeast Manitoba. The boundary of the restricted area is from PR 302 east to the Ontario border and from the U.S. border north to Lake Winnipeg and extending north to the Wanipigow River.

In Whiteshell Provincial Park, the Hunt Lake, Mantario and McGillivray Falls hiking trails are closed until wildfire conditions improve.

In Birds Hill Provincial Park, campfires will only be allowed in the approved fire pits between the hours of 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

Travel restrictions are also in place in western Manitoba for Spruce Woods Provincial Park and Spruce Woods Provincial Forest areas, Camp Hughes and the wildlife refuge at the community of Spruce Woods near CFB Shilo. Restrictions for this area include: no motorized backcountry or remote cottage access unless approved by a travel permit; camping is only allowed in developed campgrounds; and launching and landing of boats is restricted to developed shorelines.

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