Wildfire moving away from Prince Albert, no reported damage to homes

By Alison Sandstrom, paNOW

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said it will likely take days to contain the large fire burning on the northeast edge of Prince Albert city limits, but wind conditions are pushing the blaze away from the city.

Steve Roberts, the SPSA’s vice-president of operations, said there have been no reports of any “significant structure loss” from the fire and no reported loss of homes.

“We have put up values protection units, which are sprinkler units at 15 homes and structures in the area, and they have all been successful at this time,” Roberts told reporters Tuesday.

The agency said 29 evacuees are being accommodated at a hotel in Prince Albert, although more may have left the area and are staying with family or friends. Evacuation orders for anyone living east of Cloverdale Road and west of Honeymoon Road were issued Monday afternoon.

The fire has grown to 3,694 hectares in size and was previously reported at around 1,000 hectares. Roberts said high temperatures and strong winds in the 50- to 70-kilometre-per-hour range contributed to the growth of the fire Monday afternoon and into the evening.

Multiple engine crews, five helicopters, two tanker groups and heavy equipment like bulldozers and excavators are assigned to the fire. Roberts said efforts will continue Tuesday “even though our weather will not be favourable,” citing continued hot temperatures and 40 km/h winds.

Roberts said smoke, which had subsided somewhat Tuesday morning, is expected to pick up again later Tuesday afternoon.

Roberts said the fire is moving away from Prince Albert and its point of origin, across from the airport, is the closest it came to the city.

“It has actually moved more to the north and more to the east, which is away from the city of Prince Albert (and) we would expect those trends would continue,” Roberts said. “As it moves farther north, it actually enters farmland where it does not have fuel. And we’ve been able to contain those northern edges.”

As for 9,000 homes without power in areas north of Prince Albert, SaskPower said those customers should expect to be without power for at least until the rest of Tuesday. Power restoration will likely take place Wednesday at the earliest.

“We’re working currently to deploy all the necessary equipment and materials to carry out the repairs as soon as we can,” SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry told reporters. “We don’t have an estimate of restore time.”

He said 10 transmission structures have been damaged, with several of them burnt to the ground.

“There’s going to be significant repairs required there, and the fire remains active. So there are logistic and safety challenges for getting in there to conduct these repairs,” Cherry said.

Prince Albert Fire Chief Kris Olsen joined with officials in the RM of Garden River and RM of Buckland to encourage all evacuees to register with the city as soon as possible by calling the Margo Fournier Centre.

Olsen said no homes within city limits have been damaged as the fire continues to move away from the city, but the possibility of changing wind directions is always present.

“That’s always top of mind when you’re dealing with a wildfire,” he said. “Since the wee hours of the morning, we’ve been working on fire breaks. To date, we’ve been quite effective.”