Multiple Saskatchewan communities face wildfire risk, evacuations

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This article was published 12/07/2021 (1599 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA – Evacuees from various northern communities are finding shelter in North Battleford, Lloydminster, Prince Albert and Saskatoon as the wildfire season in Saskatchewan worsens.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said there were just over 90 active fires in the province Monday. A number of them were burning close to homes and infrastructure.

Steve Roberts, the agency’s vice-president of operations, said fires of particular concern were burning near Dylan, Stanley Mission, Black Lake and Stony Rapids, Grandmother’s Bay, and along Highway 102 between La Ronge and Wollaston Lake.

“We are taking action on them because of their proximity to communities,” Roberts said.

On Sunday, Chief Karen Bird of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation told residents of Southend, a small community in northeastern Saskatchewan, to prepare to leave their homes “due to a fire threat close to the community.”

“Everybody has to travel together as the roads are closed due to a fire,” she said in a Facebook video. “We have to be assisted by a helicopter in a convoy out of the community when the buses get here.”

The provincial fire ban is remaining in place at this time because of continued hot, dry weather in most of the province, as well as storms carrying lightning which poses an additional fire risk.

“At this time, most of the new fires are lightning,” said Roberts. “We have been fortunate. The fire ban has been effective and we have not seen a large number of human-caused fires.”

For now, Roberts said, the province is not planning to bring in outside help in fighting the fires.

“Currently, we are managing our fires with our internal resources,” he said. “Resources across Canada are currently stretched, including resources we may obtain from the (United) States … We have no current plans to bring in external resources.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 12, 2021.