Waskesiu: An oasis in a sea of smoke

The hamlet of Waskesiu Lake Resort has watched its neighbours evacuating while fires rip through the north.

The community of Waskesiu is just around a 50-minute drive from Weyakwin, which saw its residents forced to evacuate because of the Ditch Fire only a few weeks ago.

But while the community may be fairly close to where crews are fighting many of these fires, Waskesiu has been relatively untouched by its effects.

“We are obviously seeing people who have been displaced from other locations,” said Jim Kerby, one of the directors of the Waskesiu Recreation Association.

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“But right in Prince Albert National Park and Waskesiu, we’re fortunate.”

“There are no fires, and the businesses here are open, but we’re very aware of the situation around us and the need to be prepared in case an evacuation is necessary,” he said.

While they haven’t seen any direct impacts from the fires up north, Kerby said that what they are seeing is a drop in visitors.

“We’ve seen a reduction in business with people being somewhat concerned, especially coming from the southern part of the province, as to what risk they might be at,” he said.

“I’m actually quite certain that none of the businesses here have sort of shut down as a result of this. I would just be guessing at the reduction in business, but I’d probably put it in the 20-25 per cent range right now,” said Kerby.

“But, you know, there still are people coming to the park, and obviously we have a number of residents that have cottages and cabins here and they spend the summer here, so yeah, we are seeing a reduction, but it’s not, it’s not devastating,” Kerby said.

When it comes to this spring’s unnaturally dry and hot conditions, Kerby said that he is hopeful that the weather will be able to turn things around and bring a sense of normalcy back to the north.

“Things can change quickly in both directions.”

“In Waskesiu, for example, in June of last year, we went from being really dry to having nine inches of rain in one month, so weather is very difficult to predict in the long term,” said Kerby.

And while the community has been lucky in avoiding the worst of this year’s unprecedented start to the fire season, Kerby said that they understand the situation other communities are going through. He said that they’re looking to do whatever they can to help.

“In some cases, there are people that have actually lost their business, that have lost everything. And we’re very cognizant of that, so we do what we can to provide support,” he said.

“We’ll be doing something on Canada Day coming up to try and raise donations for the Red Cross to help with evacuees, so we know we’re fortunate, and you know we’re certainly keeping other people in our thoughts and prayers,” said Kerby.