Manitoba eyes options to keep homes heated this winter in cut-off community
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government says it is considering bringing in extra propane storage units and converting some homes to electricity to help people in isolated Churchill get through next winter.
The subarctic community on the shore of Hudson Bay lost its only land link to the outside world last month when rail service was cut off after flooding washed away a lot of rail bed along a 280-kilometre section of track leading to the town.
One key concern is heating fuel, which can be brought in by ship. But the ice-free shipping season is short, the winters are long, and the town has limited storage capacity for propane.
“There are lots of different (possible) solutions. None of them have been abandoned,” Lee Spencer, assistant deputy minister of emergency measures, said Thursday.