Indigenous leaders say federal and provincial officials are to blame for hundreds of people getting stuck in Little Grand Rapids as a wildfire rages nearby.
Chief Raymond Keeper said it's no longer an evacuation, but a "rescue mission" to get the 630 or so people waiting in the community's school gym out of the community, 265 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
They crowded into the school gym in Little Grand Rapids overnight, waiting to be flown to safety as the fire moves closer to the community.
But the province says the First Nation made the decision to evacuate on its own.
A provincial spokesperson says the human-caused fire spread quickly from the shore near Little Grand Rapids on Monday and Tuesday.
"Senior staff from [Sustainable Development] tried to reach out to the chief and council to discuss an evacuation of vulnerable persons, and potentially children and elders. Staff were not able to reach anyone from the council, and left a number of messages at the band office," a provincial spokesperson said in an email.
The province says that Little Grand Rapids didn't notify them before declaring an evacuation was needed.
"Once a decision to evacuate has been made, First Nations communities coordinate with the Canadian Red Cross. It is not known if anyone from Little Grand Rapids contacted the federal government to discuss the options or ensure there was a plan in place," the provincial spokesperson said.
Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs' Organization says they've been asking government officials for an evacuation of the community for the last two days.
But Daniels says he was told the fire was under control.
"It's all of our people that are stuck in the community. All the non-Indigenous people were flown out. People need to understand that, what's going on, because that's totally unacceptable."
The province "knew ... that it was dry, that the fire was going to spread, that it was going to get bigger, but it got worse," said Coun. Clinton Keeper.
Initial reports said 11 houses were destroyed.
Indigenous Services Canada is monitoring the situation closely, said spokeswoman Martine Stevens, and regional staff have met with the chief and council.
Pauingassi First Nation, north of Little Grand Rapids, was also being evacuated due to the fire.
Province had no aircraft to spare: minister
Infrastructure Minister Ron Schuler said dry conditions and unpredictable winds have made fighting the fire in Little Grand Rapids difficult.
"What happened is the winds turned and they picked up. Sometimes the fires are so big that they actually create their own weather. They can actually create their own wind, so in this case it did start to get uncomfortable," he said.
The Red Cross requested additional equipment, but Schuler said the province had no aircraft that they could spare.
"So right away they went through [Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada] to the federal government and asked if the military would come in and help out," he said.
Around midnight Tuesday night, a call went out to the Canadian military to airlift people out of Little Grand Rapids, Schuler said during question period at the legislature on Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Schuler said he spoke with Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and received assurances that the federal government is ready to help.
No one has seen a fire like this before.- Terrence Owen, Amik Aviation
"He was notified immediately of our request last night and they put all kinds of vehicles to our disposal to get those individuals out," he said.
The federal government has planes that are equipped with instruments that allow them to land in heavy smoke, Schuler said.
A CH-147 Chinook helicopter was to fly about 90 people out of Little Grand Rapids Wednesday, said David Lavalee, a Royal Canadian Air Force spokesman.
Amik Aviation, which provides transportation to northern communities in Manitoba, cancelled all of its regularly scheduled flights to help Wednesday. Manager Terrence Owen said the company used float planes to land on the water and then transported people by boat to the plane.
"It's pretty bad. I can see it on everyone's faces," he said. "No one has seen a fire like this before."
About 160 people had left the community by Wednesday afternoon, band officials said.
Crews from Manitoba and Ontario are fighting the wildfire along with water bombers from Quebec.