Chemawawin, Easterville to lift state of emergency after Manitoba forest fires

The state of emergency for ChemawawinCree Nationand Easterville is expected to be lifted Monday afternoon after a rainy weekend helped combat forest fires near the Manitoba communities.

The area about 400 kilometres north of Winnipeg has been under the state of emergency since last week as flames crept as close as 100 metres to homes.

ChemawawinChief Clarence Easter saidlate Sunday evening thatprovincial conservation officials reported the fire was no longer affectingthe community.

As a result, the emergency designation will likely be liftedat 3 p.m., which meanspeople will begin to beallowed to returnafew at a time.

"[We need to first] make sure that everything is safe to go home to. We have to check on, you know, the water, make sure the water is there, make sure the power is there, make sure there's no damage that way," he said.

"What I know is that there's no structures that burned down. Everything's still intact."

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