The hospitality community was on high alert this weekend in Winkler as nearly 200 evacuees were originally expected to arrive over Labour Day.

Local hotels were contacted last week by Red Cross to determine how many rooms could be made available on short notice for evacuees fleeing wildfires in Northern Manitoba.

Felicia Penner with the Days Inn in Winkler explains, together with the Quality Inn, they were able to offer 50 rooms for a two week period.

However, they learned Monday many evacuees were able to return home or housed elsewhere as the direction of the fire had changed.

While Penner says it was anti-climactic to hear the evacuees would not be coming, it was amazing to see the community, even competing business, band together for a common cause.

Many volunteers jumped at the chance to help those evacuated from their homes

On Saturday, with hundreds expected to be arriving on the holiday and stores closing in a few hours, Penner put out a call on social media for donations of bottled water and granola bars.

She says the response was overwhelming.

"It was so much in such a little amount of time," she says, as people rushed to the stores.

First it was thought they would receive at least one water bottle per person, they quickly had enough for one full case per family, and more than 1000 granola bars.

"I think it says a lot about our community," Penner says. "We said we needed help, and it was there."

Feeding 200 people for 14 days would also be daunting. However, local pizza restaurants banded together, reasoning that if two competing hotels could work together, why not restaurants?

They soon had nearly 100 pizzas promised for whenever they would be needed. Local churches were on standby, ready to offer childcare services as well.

Now that the items are no longer needed for evacuees, Penner says they will be donated back to the community through numerous local charities.

Penner notes the evacuees would've likely been exhausted from travel, many leaving their homes and communities for the first time. To ease the transition organizers began putting together care packages.