People in a town in northwestern Manitoba are being forced out of their homes after a wildfire put the community under a mandatory evacuation order on Friday.

The Town of Snow Lake declared a local state of emergency on Tuesday and implemented a voluntary evacuation, giving people a chance to leave before further restrictions kicked in.

Some residents have left since, but all those who remain in the town must now be out before noon Saturday, Snow Lake said in a social media post Friday.

The wildfire threatening Snow Lake was still kilometres away from the town earlier this week, but west and northwest winds were pushing the blaze toward Snow Lake, choking the air with heavy smoke, the town's mayor told CBC News on Wednesday.

That wildfire was the largest out-control blaze in Manitoba o

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