SaskTel services restored in most northern communities

By Logan Lehmann

Most communities in northern Saskatchewan have been reconnected with SaskTel services after wildfires damaged some vital equipment.

The telecommunications company said that as of 1 p.m. Sunday, crews have completed repairing the fibre transport infrastructure damaged by wildfires, resulting in services being restored across the north.

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Communities that have been reconnected include Brabant Lake, Sucker Lake, Southend, Key Lake, Cigar Lake, Collins Bay, Wollaston Lake, Black Lake, Stony Rapids, Sandy Bay, and Fond du Lac.

However, SaskTel advised that with fires still burning, further service outages may happen if other infrastructure is damaged.

Additionally, due to prolonged power outages caused by the wildfires, SaskTel internet, wireless, and landline services are still not available in Deschambault Lake and Pelican Narrows. The company said it anticipates that Jan Lake will also lose these services sometime on Sunday afternoon.

“These services will remain out until commercial power is restored or until it is safe for SaskTel crews to bring generators and fuel to the impacted sites,” SaskTel said in a release.