Canada has endured a series of significant forest fires in recent years, but deaths involving residents are rare. In 2023, the worst wildfire season in the country’s history, the only recorded deaths were among firefighters.

Canadian federal police confirmed Wednesday that two people died in the small community of Lac-du-Bonnet, in the central province of Manitoba, which is experiencing unusually hot, dry and windy conditions.

Chris Hastie of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) told reporters that authorities “were aware that these individuals had been trapped in the fire.”

There were no reports of additional people unaccounted for, Hastie said. Manitoba’s Premier Wab Kinew said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of two Manitobans due to the wildfires.”

“My heart goes out to their loved ones,” he added in a post on X.

“This is a truly tragic event. We are a very close-knit community here,” Loren Schinkel, the head of the community 100km north of Winnipeg, said after the deaths were confirmed.