Manitoba NROs led the wildland fire fighting efforts on a large fire in Northwest Manitoba. Incident Management Team Alpha was deployed to Cranberry Portage on June 19, 2010. A lightning strike fire had escaped initial attack and quickly grew beyond local suppression capabilities.

Before the fire was contained, it grew to ~56,000 hectares, caused a partial evacuation of the community of Cranberry Portage, evacuation of the Sourdough Bay cottage subdivision near Flin Flon, closed down Provincial Trunk Highway 39, closed down campgrounds and access to the Grass River Provincial Park, threatened to burn dozens of remote cottages and virtually shut down all backcountry travel in the Northwest Region.

Specialized fire fighting crews from B.C., Ontario, Minnesota and Wisconsin were brought in to help with fire line control. Heavy equipment (bull dozers and skidders) were utilized. As many as 8 water bombers dropped water on various parts of Fire NW 024. 16 helicopters bucketed water, transported crews and equipment and flew operational planning missions.

The Manitoba Office of the Fire Commissioner spent days establishing structural fire fighting equipment on buildings in Cranberry Portage, local lodges, remote cottages and the Sourdough cottage subdivision. Considering the hundreds of structures threatened, only a handful of the more remote structures were overcome by the huge fire.

At its peak operation, approximately 450 personnel were involved in the management of the incident. The specialized training that IMT Alpha took two years ago proved instrumental in their abilities to organize and manage this complex incident.