Wadin Bay community heroes reflect on past fire season

As the snow begins to melt and temperatures warm on the prairies, many are now looking to this upcoming fire season.

Lake life on the prairies last year was filled with fire bans, evacuations and extreme wildfires.

Read more:

• Community heroes protect Wadin Bay from devastating wildfires
• UPDATE: Sucker River, Wadin Bay, English Bay, Nemeiben ordered to evacuate; La Ronge on standby
• People in La Ronge area told to evacuate as Pisew Fire breaches airport

Twenty-two people in the community of Wadin Bay – a resort community on the shores of Lac La Ronge approximately 30 kilometres north of the town of La Ronge – decided to stay behind when their community was ordered to evacuate, and a fire burned towards their homes.

The Wadin Bay volunteer firefighters battled the blaze for nine straight days and nights, dealing with the elements, exhaustion and a monstrous fire that continued to grow.

Despite the odds, those 22 people were able to save their community.

Shaun Bergsveinson was one of those volunteers. He said that being a fire-smart community is essential when living in the north.

“We first became a Firesmart community in 2013, we were the first community in Saskatchewan,” he said.

“It’s just keeping your yards clean and the outer limits, we are in the park, so we can’t just clear cut, and we don’t want that,” Bergsveinson said. “We live in the forest, and we want the beauty of the forest but we do have to keep it clean in case of wildfires.”

Since last year’s fire, he said more communities are moving towards improving fire safety.

“I know the town of La Ronge, the village of Air Ronge, and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band are all, after last year, working towards that to try and do clean ups and stay on top of things,” he said.

He said that the community has dealt with many fires in the past, but the fire in 2025 definitely takes the cake.

“Last year’s fire was incredible. Winds of 70 to 80 kilometres an hour. We had a fire come through the community in 2015, that was like a bonfire compared to 2025,” he said.

“It came in so fast, preparing on a Friday and a Saturday, and then Monday morning evacuation orders were put in place.”

When the 22 people decided to stay and fight the Pisew Fire, Bergsveinson said they had multiple plans in place, all working to keep the fire at bay.

“The 22 that stayed back all did their part. We had a plan in place, we had boats in the water in case we had to get out, which we did. We went out in the water twice,” he said.

“From Monday evening to around four o’clock, the wind shifted, and we were just out in the water, out 200-300 yards, and when we came back in, we ended up fighting till, I believe, when I looked at my clock at four o’clock in the morning, 12 hours later, and it was just 12 hours of nonstop hauling water, running sprinklers, and filling pumps nonstop,” he said.

In an effort to protect the community’s cabins and homes, the volunteer firefighters ran pumps down by the lake and set up sprinklers along the streets, with some sprinklers mounted on two-by-four pieces of wood, giving the water more range.

Shortly after the evacuation, the people who had stayed back lost contact with the outside world.

“Monday night, they lost 42 power poles from La Ronge to Sucker River, which is the community located just north of us. And we lost all cell coverage, we had nothing,” Bergsveinson recalled. “And of course, you couldn’t drive between La Ronge and Wadin at that time.”

Despite everything thrown against them, the 22 volunteer firefighters, with no help from the provincial government or the outside world, were able to protect their community from the Pisew Fire.

It cost the firefighters close to $39,000 to be able to protect their community – money they are now hoping will be reimbursed by the provincial government.

Bergsveinson said they are currently in talks with the provincial government to get that money back.

The Pisew Fire was finally declared contained on August 18, 2025, three months after it had started. It burned a total of 220,066 hectares. A total of 56 homes, cottages and businesses were lost in the flames.

The community of Wadin Bay survived, only losing a single shed.