Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan’s ability to fight a plague of wildfires across the province is reaching the breaking point.
The premier was joined by officials from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency at a news conference in Prince Albert on Saturday to update the current wildfire situation.
The province continues to experience one of its worst starts to the wildfire season on record. More than 500,000 hectares have burned in wildfires across the province so far this year.
“Resources are stretched thin because of the severity of the situation that we’re facing and the intensity and the proximity of the fires,” Moe told reporters. “Just can’t have another fire.”
People need to be absolutely careful about accessing areas close to the wildfires, as these are incredibly stressful and challenging times for those in northern Saskatchewan.
Sixteen active wildfires in the province have led to at least 17 evacuations, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes.
Evacuees feeling the pressure
Sandy Oosterlaken from the village of Denare Beach, where there is an evacuation order, said she had about 30 minutes to leave her home. But as she was told to leave, her husband was trapped on the other side with no access to essentials.
“My husband was trapped on the other side of the barricade with no pills, no food, no nothing. They wouldn’t let him come to me to evacuate,” she said.
Oosterlaken managed to get to him, but now the couple are in limbo trying to figure out where they’re going to go. They have no idea where to spend the night and for how long.
“We’re trying to register with Saskatchewan Red Cross; I’ve tried numerous times,” she said. She hasn’t been able to register with any of the evacuation organizers so far.
“Worse happens, we’re sleeping in the car. We’ll just keep traveling from town to town to town to town till hopefully we find something,” Oosterlaken said, adding that first they’re headed to Saskatoon.
State of emergency declared in Sturgeon Landing
The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation has declared a state of emergency for the community of Sturgeon Landing due to wildfires. It’s issuing a mandatory evacuation order because of heavy smoke from a wildfire burning in Manitoba and the increasing threat to road access in and out of the area.
The First Nation says all community members must evacuate immediately and that evacuees must meet at the Wanless Store, which will serve as the staging area.
From there, it says, a convoy will travel to The Pas, Man., with support from emergency personnel to ensure a safe evacuation. If anyone is evacuating by private vehicle, they are urged to follow the convoy and not travel alone.
Wildfire smoke is also affecting other communities in the province, with air quality warnings in place for areas including Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Estevan.
The province’s largest fire, the Shoe fire, has burned 305,000 hectares, which is about 13 times the size of Saskatoon. Smoke from that fire has been threatening communities, including the resort village of Candle Lake.
At a news conference on Saturday, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the province is ‘using all the resources we can’ as a spate of wildfires have forced thousands of people to flee their homes. ‘We cannot manage and handle a single other fire,’ he said.
The community experienced thick smoke over the last few days, but according to the latest update, the fire is “moving more slowly toward Candle Lake.”
“However, wind and weather conditions can change quickly, and our pre-alert evacuation and voluntary evacuation notices remain in effect,” according to the update at 10 a.m. Friday.
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said that resources are being deployed to mitigate the fire, including type 1 and type 2 fire crews, helicopters, local fire departments and heavy equipment. Communities evacuated due to the Shoe fire include Lower Fishing Lake, Piprell Lake, East Trout Lake, Little Bear Lake. Whiteswan/Whelan Bay.
Prince Albert National Park limits access
Parks Canada has issued a closure for areas within Prince Albert National Park due to the wildfires.
It’s restricting all backcountry areas in the national park, Kingsmere Road west of Narrows Peninsula Trail; Elk Trail and the Valleyview network of trails, excluding the Valleyview easy and moderate trails; all of Crean Lake, including Crean Kitchen campground and day-use area, excluding Hanging Heart Lakes.
Visitors are being asked to respect the closures to reduce the risk of igniting new fires.
Power remains out in northeastern Sask. communities
SaskPower said in an update that wildfire conditions are disrupting repair work for the outage in some northern communities. Crews have been forced to stop work in Deschambault Lake, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Jan Lake, Creighton, and surrounding areas.
As of Friday morning, crews had been unable to resume work in those regions safely.
In La Ronge, Southend, Brabant Lake, and McLennan Lake, similar challenges are being reported. SaskPower said Friday that crews are en route to continue repairs to address the outage, but no estimated time of restoration is currently available due to the ongoing wildfire threat.
Métis Nation–Saskatchewan declares state of emergency
On Friday, the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) also declared a state of emergency, joining the provincial government as more citizens are forced to flee their homes with little or no notice.
“These wildfires are spreading so unpredictably, and citizens are being evacuated with little or no notice and no destination in place. They’re leaving behind their homes and their livelihoods with little more than uncertainty ahead,” MN–S president Glen McCallum said in a statement.
The MN–S government said it has mounted response teams to assist in fire zones, is providing culturally grounded services where possible, and is co-ordinating with provincial and federal partners to ensure Métis citizens have access to support.
Federal response to wildfires
Saskatchewan is under a provincial state of emergency due to wildfires. That means the province can access more resources and call for support from different levels of the government.
Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister of emergency management, said in an interview with CBC News Network on Friday that Manitoba has called for a “request for assistance” from the federal government, but Saskatchewan has not made a similar request yet.
She said that the Royal Canadian Air Force is helping those remote communities in Manitoba evacuate to Winnipeg.
“I did speak with my counterpart, my provincial counterpart Tim McLeod, this afternoon and he advised me that the situation in Saskatchewan is manageable at the present time,” she said.
“In the event that federal resources are required, we’re absolutely prepared to step up and help,” Olszewski said.
The premier said the province requests different resources from different locations, depending on the need. “It’s about the resource that you actually require…. The federal government traditionally doesn’t have water bombing support. If they did, we would be requesting,” he said.
Moe said the final decision of making a call for a “request for assistance” is in the hands of SPSA president Marlo Pritchard and vice-president of operations Steve Roberts.
“It’s definitely a part of that contingency planning, but it is one of the last steps,” Pritchard told reporters.
Creighton Fire
The Cub fire north of Creighton is at 25,000 hectares as of Saturday afternoon. Officials said it is very close to the community and there was significant ‘action’ last night due to southern winds.
“The priority is to continue to protect the communities of Creighton and Denare Beach,” Pritchard said.
He said that numerous fire departments, including volunteer firefighters, have been sent to those communities to help protect them.
Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
