Lisa Powder and her great grandchildren were among the first Weyakwin residents to return home after fleeing a wildfire that burned dangerously close to the northern Saskatchewan community.
“It’s sad to come home to see it like this,” Powder said while walking to a neighbour’s house Thursday afternoon.
“Kind of scary with all the smoke and knowing the fires are still around. So we’re keeping a couple bags packed just in case.”
An evacuation order for Weyakwin, a hamlet located about 250 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, was lifted on Thursday, allowing residents back in for the first time in a week. Thick smoke remains, as does the threat of spot fires.
Powder is grateful for the firefighters and other crews that stopped the fire from damaging a single building in the hamlet.
There are small losses, though, like a favourite walking trail. Other losses will regrow.
“We lost a good berry patch,” Powder said. “That was the best blueberry patch in town.”
A handful of fire crews patrolled Weyakwin on Thursday, checking sprinklers and watching for spot fires.
Jordan LaValle and his crew were glad to see people returning. They’ve been fighting off nearby Ditch fire since May.
That’s when LaValle, who grew up in Weyakwin and is a certified emergency firefighter, got a surprise visit while working his regular job at the La Ronge Co-op.
“My crew showed up there and they needed a crew boss, so I ended up clocking out and told my boss I want to go firefighting and save the town,” LaValle said.
That’s exactly what Lavalle’s crews and dozens of other firefighters and volunteers did.
Kalan Natonagan lives in Weyakwin and is part of LaValle’s crew. On Thursday, he was heading out to extinguish a spot fire in the bush just down the street from his house.
“It feels good to fight for my own community,” Natonagan said.
The fire burned much of the forest in the area. Charred trees and brush line Highway 2.
“There’s very little remaining out there,” LaValle said. “You can’t really see any wildlife or nothing.”
Working on the front line of an unprecedented wildfire season is a bit of a thrill, he said.
“You couldn’t even walk 50 feet and there was another guy there working to put out the fires,” LaValle said.
Joslynn Thedorf and her 11-year-old daughter Hayleigh are calling their silver SUV — parked in a Prince Albert parking lot — their home for the time being. They joined the convoy that left La Ronge earlier this week as wildfires advanced on the northern Saskatchewan community.
Powder stayed at Montreal Lake Cree Nation with other evacuees from Weyakwin, Timber Bay and Molanosa. They were treated well, but are happy to be home, even if there’s a bit of a mess.
“We got home and there was ash all over and the house smells like smoke, so I got the rug freshener and put it all over,” Powder said.
She knows she is one of the lucky evacuees. Thousands of displaced residents are still waiting to hear about their homes.
As of Thursday afternoon, there were 27 wildfires burning in Saskatchewan, six of them not contained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.
“To the evacuees out there, please be patient,” Powder said. “Have faith your homes will still be there.
“We’re praying for everybody to be safe.”
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