Sarah Mills: Early wildfire season raises questions about prevention
Wildfires have forced thousands of people in Saskatchewan to leave their homes, and the summer hasn't even started yet. ...
As cabin owners in the Narrow Hills Provincial Park area begin to get a clearer picture of the devastation wildfires have left behind, the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency’s (SPSA) daily wildfire update shows some promising news.
The largest fire in the province, the Shoe Fire that began at Lower Fishing Lake and then merged with the Camp Fire north of Snowden, did not appear to grow any larger overnight. It is still being reported at 216,171 hectares, the same as Wednesday, though the SPSA is expected to offer another update early this afternoon.
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Around Lower Fishing Lake and Little Bear Lake, crews continue to mop up the areas that the wildfires have already torched, which includes cabins, trailers, boats and whole campgrounds within Narrow Hills Provincial Park. Meanwhile, work continues in a firebreak at Candle Lake to prevent the blaze from coming any closer to the resort village.
Northeast of Missinipe, the Jaysmith Fire has now torched power poles, which caused a power outage. The community of Brabant Lake is still evacuated. The SPSA said an aerial ignition to stop the fire’s run into the community was successful.
The Pisew Fire, west of La Ronge is 55,873 hectares in size, and has burned structures, including a cabin. Hall Lake remains evacuated. Crews continue to work the area along Highway 165 where the fire crossed, but low visibility is causing issues for helicopter support. More personnel are expected to join the firefighting efforts there on Thursday. Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said the fire growth has been limited, and crews are actively working to tie off the fire before it reaches Clam Lake.
The Wolf Fire, west of Denare Beach, has led to the evacuation of Jan Lake and the McIlvenna mine site. It has charred 29,000 hectares so far.
At 2,000 hectares, the Pelican2 Fire northeast of Pelican Narrows forced the evacuation of the community. Crews will try get to the far southeast side of the fire nearest the community and lagoon today.
The Club Fire, north of Creighton, led to the evacuation of that community and Denare Beach. Flin Flon, Man. was also evacuated yesterday. The SPSA said it is co-ordinating with both communities to organize resources available in the area in order to respond to the multiple priority areas around Creighton on the south flank, closest to the communities. They are assessing to see what, if any, property has been lost so far.
The LRIR09 Fire west of Christopher Lake is now considered contained at 500 hectares.
There are currently 17 active wildfires burning in Saskatchewan, and eight are not contained.
As of today, 16 communities and nearly 4,300 people have been evacuated.
