Hotel spaces freed up in Winnipeg for wildfire evacuees, Alberta dealing with winds [Video]

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said Monday hotels in Winnipeg are opening up to thousands of evacuees who have fled their homes due to raging wildfires.

More than 17,000 people have been displaced in the province since last week, including all 5,000 residents of Flin Flon. Emergency centres were set up as available hotel rooms in cities have been scarce.

Some residents from Pimicikamak Cree Nation, east of Flin Flon, were transported to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Speaking ahead of the premiers’ conference in Saskatoon, Kinew said some 1,000 hotel rooms are being made available for evacuees in Winnipeg.

“Nobody wants to sleep on a cot for more than a day or two, even in an emergency,” Kinew said.

“We’re connecting folks who need those enhanced …