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The Pisew fire, west of La Ronge grew 3,000 hectares overnight. It has now charred a total of 86,630 hectares and has caused damage in the community.
Structures, including homes, have been lost in the Eagle Point neighbourhood. Derek Cornet is a Pattison Media reporter for larongeNOW.com. He lives in the community and said it feels eerily calm as residents have left, but during the evacuation order last night, there was some chaos and confusion. Some residents leaving the town sat on the highway for up to three hours before they were able to get through because of another fire.
“There was also some type of confusion where people started telling one another out there that they were being told to turn around. So, a bunch of people started to turn around, but whatever happened out there was just due to misinformation,” Cornet said.
“People were upset for having to wait on the highway for that long only to be told to turn back and then frustrated again that this misinformation happened and they had to turn around for a second time.”
The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said a fireguard will be established north of the town of La Ronge today.
An emergency operations meeting took place Tuesday including all six Lac La Ronge Indian Band communities, program directors, executive staff, Prince Albert Grand Council, and various local and provincial agencies to discuss the wildfire situation that has forced the La Ronge area to evacuate. (LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson/Facebook)
The Ditch02 fire, north of Weyakwin, is 70,110 hectares. Fire departments from cross the province including those from Prince Albert, Martensville and Warman, continue to protect the communities and values there. They’re removing flammable debris and combustible materials around structures in Molanosa. The SPSA said powerline operations ceased due to equipment challenges.
The Jaysmith fire, northeast of Missinipe, is 88,099 hectares. Crews are looking for an area to do backburns from the north end of the Brabant and will continue to work on setting up sprinklers as the fire progresses.
Crews from Wakaw/Hoodoo Fire and Rescue are providing structural protection in the hamlet of Weyakwin. (Wakaw/Hoodoo Fire and Rescue/Facebook)
The Wolf fire, west of Denare Beach, is uncontained at 71,130 hectares. The protection base there has called for a full camp evacuation. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said updates will resume when setup is complete in the Creighton Sportex.
Meanwhile, the Club fire, north of Creighton, is 17,327 hectares on the Saskatchewan side, and a total of 60,537 combined with Manitoba. Crews are working to contain spot fires on the south side of the highway.
The Shoe fire is 407,956 hectares in size. Crews are working on hot spots today on the east side of Highway 913. Five dozers continue to make a guard along the east side of that highway to protect power poles for planned ignition. There are also structure protection specialists at Whelan Bay and Heritage Lake.
The Pelican2 fire, northeast of Pelican Narrows, is now 20,425 hectares. Since the fire breached Highway 135 at the bridge, there is no traffic in or out of Pelican Narrows to the south of town. Crews continue to work on hotspots throughout the community to protect critical infrastructure. Volunteer fire departments are detecting and extinguishing spot fires around any properties. There are multiple flareups happening near the narrows.
There are currently 20 active wildfires burning in the province; eight of them are not contained. A total of 34 communities have been evacuated across the province. Premier Scott Moe announced over 15,000 people have been displaced. SPSA said they had at least 9,000 registered evacuees.
