Pukatawagan evacuation ramps up: Larger aircraft arrive as airport reopens

The evacuation of a Manitoba First Nation forced out by wildfires is ramping up with larger aircraft helping out and the reopening of the community's only airport. However, concerns remain about the sheer number of residents still stranded days after they were ordered out.

Thousands of people have been waiting to be flown out from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation, also known as Pukatawagan, since the mandatory evacuation order came on Wednesday.

Smoke from out-of-control wildfires shut down the community's only airstrip on Thursday. With some aircraft limited to groups of between six and 13 people since then, officials in the community had said it would take days before the evacuation would be complete.

The airport reopened on Saturday morning after the smoke cleared enough to allow aircraft to land, Chief Gordie Bear told CBC News.

"We won't leave you behind, but you gotta wait in line then so that we can come out without a stampede, without fighting at the gate to get out," he said. 

However, the runway in Pukatawagan can only accommodate helicopters and light planes, excluding other military aircraft such as the Hercules that can handle a greater number of people, Bear said. 

"You can only do so much," he said. 

The out-control wildfire, first reported Tuesday, was 9,785 hectares in size and about a kilometre away from the community as of Thursday, according to the province's wildfire map.

WATCH | Helicopters for Pukatawagan evacuees land in The Pas: 

Double-rotor Chinook helicopters from the Canadian Forces were flying evacuees from Pukatawagan roughly 210 kilometres south to The Pas on Saturday. 

Bear said about 500 residents were expected to be evacuated during the 10-hour window limiting flight crews are timed out for the day and operations resume on Sunday morning. 

"It's very hard to speak for everybody in general, but nobody wants to leave," Bear said. "This is not a vacation, they are going into a different environment." 

The evacuation is also bringing the trauma some residential school survivors endured after being forcefully removed from their community as he was, Bear said. 

However, the threat of the wildfire, combined with the smoke-filled air and a power outage means everyone must leave, Bear said.