By Glenn Hicks

Jan Lake Lodge evacuated

Aug 30, 2017 | 2:00 PM

Jan Lake Lodge has been evacuated along with a handful of other local businesses at the village lake resort due to the current wildfire threat.

The co-owner of the fishing lodge said it’s fortunate the evacuation didn’t take place over the Labour Day weekend.

Speaking from Saskatoon, Rieann Decae said they would normally have between 150 to 200 people at their lodge and campground with plenty of visitors out on the lake. That would have made co-ordinating an evacuation challenging.

As it happens, the site was very quiet because guests couldn’t arrive due the highway closure earlier in the week. That left just 10 staff members.

“We’ve been monitoring the local wildfire situation for months,” Decae said. “When the time came for us to get out (Tuesday afternoon) we had already been packing so we secured things and took everything we needed. It’s not like we were scrambling. But it’s still nerve-wracking.”

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As for leaving behind her business of 24 cabins, Decae is confident firefighting crews on the ground will keep the area protected.

“They are doing an amazing job and I believe they were putting sprinkler systems in place,” she said. “I certainly think we’re in good hands but you never know. It all depends on the wind I guess and we haven’t had rain for two months.”

Ultimately she’s happy everyone is safe.

“Things like this …you just want to get out. We got everyone out safely and that’s the main thing,” she said.

Glenn.Hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow