By Tyler Marr

‘Scared and nervous’: Wildfire forces evacuation order for Crutwell, homes nearby Hwy 3

May 14, 2018 | 9:08 PM

While the evacuation order was lifted, those in and around a community west of Prince Albert were on edge for five hours Monday night.

Residents slowly arrived at an evacuee centre in Shellbrook after a wildfire forced an evacuation order for the hamlet of Crutwell and a number of nearby homes Monday evening.

According to the Ministry of Environment, the Rally wildfire, now estimated to be around 1,500 hectares, continues to burn uncontained south of the village of Holbein. According to a ministry spokesperson, the fire breached the machine guard on the east side of the fire Monday afternoon. The fire remains about five kilometres from Crutwell.

Those who could self-evacuate were asked to use Highway 3 to head to the Shellbrook Senior Hall on the corner of Railway Ave. and Main St. to register and receive further instructions. Anyone in need of assistance was asked to call 306-747-2178. Those living in Holbein, about 30 kilometres west of Prince Albert, and those living along and south of Highway 3 have also been asked to remain on standby for a possible evacuation order should things escalate.

Patty Thole lives in the community of about 57 and arrived Monday evening at the hall. She was watching the hamlet’s group chat all morning and said the evacuation order seemed to come “out of the blue.”

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“There was about four or five RCMP vehicles that raced in with their lights on going door-to-door telling us all we need to leave,” she said. 

People in the hamlet are scared and nervous but she said possessions and belongings can always be replaced.

“That is not what we are worried about. That is our home that is where we live,” she said, adding her father has lived there for 15 years, and many families have been there much longer.

“It is sad and overwhelming,” she added. “You look behind us and there is just smoke billowing behind our trees. You just don’t know what to think.”

Her bother Mathew Bird, who also lives in Crutwell, was working at the Bigway grocery store in Shellbrook when the order broke. Thole called the store and Bird said his boss came out while he was finishing his lunch break and told him to go home.

“For me, it was a numb feeling. I didn’t really know what to think,” he said. 

Bird quickly drove back to the hamlet to grab a few belongings. He packed up his laptop, cat, clothes and a few keepsakes for his kids, but said he didn’t have much time.

“I grabbed what I could and loaded it up in the back of my van and we took off,” he said. “We hope that [fire crews] can do what they need to do to save homes. You can replace possessions but the ground and land you have been sitting on for years, it is hard to replace that.”

A mixture of bulldozers, helicopters, air tankers and over 60 personnel continue to work the wildfire. The blaze broke out Saturday evening. The cause of the fire is not yet known but is believed to be human-caused. Steve Roberts with Wildfire Management previously told paNOW that investigation specialists have been sent out to clarify the cause and see if they can determine a specific ignitor or place of origin.

— With files from Bryan Eneas 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr