Ministry explains La Ronge-area firefighting priorities

The conditions earlier in the week forced fire crews to focus their resources on specific priority zones.

La Ronge and the two communities of Sucker River and Clam Lake, “Where people live year-round [and] have infrastructure,” were the first priority, Roberts explained.

Seasonal structures – like cabins that are not occupied – were the second priority, which led to some losses.

“We had such volatile fire behavior we could neither get crews in, support them by aircraft, or it was too dangerous to engage them in time. So sometimes we just can’t get in there in time to do that stuff,” he said.

The safety of the public – including the crews – trumped the safety of structural protection in the firefighting efforts.

Roberts gave an example of this.

“Even though we had our air tankers working, we diverted an air tanker from one of the larger fires to fly to the north to a single, smaller fire because two members of the fire were isolated on an island by the fire and needed a helicopter rescue and we sent an air tanker to support that in case they were in imminent danger,” he said.

Things are looking up on the fire front. Rain is in the forecast, and hundreds of families are returning home.

One home and 14 cabins have been impacted by this year’s fire season so far. He confirmed what the ministry considers a home, saying, “If it’s permanent we’ll call it a home, if it’s seasonal we’ll call it a cabin.”

The current numbers do not include structures that people don’t rely on, for example, a boat shed.

The level of damage has not yet been verified as a ‘loss,’ which usually means ‘significant damage or total damage’ by burning to the ground, Roberts said.

As flames give way to ash in the area, conservation officers will survey the full impact of the fire.

When contacted for comment about whether anyone had mentioned criticism over firefighting efforts, Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Season said she hadn’t heard anything but good things.

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk

by Chelsea Laskowski

Ministry explains La Ronge-area firefighting priorities

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