Gold mine’s controlled burn blamed for 2025 wildfire, lawsuit alleges

Smoke billows in the air as a wildfire enters the community of Lynn Lake on June 1, 2025. (Brandon Dulewich)

The company behind a Lynn Lake-area gold mine is accused in a lawsuit of setting off a wildfire that grew to tens of thousands of hectares and forced residents to evacuate as flames closed in on the northern community.

The statement of claim, filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench on July 6, alleges Toronto-based Alamos Gold Inc. let a controlled burn get out of control last year, sparking a wildfire that caused “significant damage” to property nearby.

Manitoba Wildfire Service data shows a 40-hectare fire burning in the area in the first week of May 2025, which grew to more than 85,000 hectares by August. The fire prompted the evacuation of Lynn Lake—home to roughly 600 people, located about 800 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg—in late May 2025.

A provincial spokesperson said the cause of that fire remains under investigation.

According to the statement of claim, Alamos performed a controlled burn at or near the gold mine in May that allegedly escaped its control and spread through the surrounding Lynn Lake and Burge Lake area.

Eight area property owners are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit—a man whose Burge Lake cottage was badly damaged as the wildfire spread, and seven residents of the Rural Municipality of Lynn Lake who say they incurred expenses evacuating the fire.

“Alamos knew or ought to have known that there was a real and foreseeable risk that the burn could escape and cause damage to the surrounding community and neighbouring lands which would necessitate the evacuation of community members,” reads the statement of claim.

The filing alleges the company, which operates gold mines in Canada and Mexico, was responsible for the burn’s execution and monitoring and is liable for the resulting damages.

It also accuses the company of negligence, alleging it failed to deploy sufficient personnel and equipment to maintain control of the burn and failed to report the burn to relevant authorities in a timely manner.

The statement of claim seeks special damages of $94,496.29, along with general damages and costs. It alleges one plaintiff’s cottage sustained nearly $80,000 in damage, while the remaining plaintiffs’ collective evacuation expenses amounted to just over $15,000.

CTV News has reached out to Alamos Gold Inc. for comment and is awaiting a response.

None of the claims have been tested in court, and no statement of defence has been filed yet.