Sask. fires affect area 23 times size of Saskatoon

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The fire was 1.5 kilometres north of La Ronge as of 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The town continues to be a ghost town with only essential services in operation. 

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“Egg Fire north of La Ronge continues to be stable north of the townsite of La Ronge. Our crews are working with bulldozers, helicopters, ground crews, and sprinkler systems to control that northern flank. There are structural fire department crews that will work within the town boundaries to support them should there be any spot fire activity,” Steve Roberts with the Ministry of Environment said.

Meanwhile, 450 soldiers are on the ground taking training in Prince Albert.

About a dozen armoured vehicles left the city to make their way up north. A small crowd gathered to see them off, some waving Canadian flags. 

“Through an aggressive training program we trained military personel through the night and we will have, for Wednesday morning deployment, approximately 330 line firefighters who will be assigned direct firefighting tasks from the military on our highest priority fires,” Roberts said.

The province is also training residents of Saskatchewan who come forward and have the skills and wish to be deployed, or are interested in fighting.

McKay said the province has been working closely with Chief Tammy Cook-Searson to locate individuals to volunteer.

“We will be looking at providing training and help to augment the fire operations over a long period of time. Even once the threats have been reduced around these communities, it has been an extraordinary year for fires in the province… I’m sure there will be a need for these firefighters,” McKay said.

CH54B is the largest firefighting helicopter in North America. It is now in La Ronge to help with the firefighting efforts.

The La Ronge-based owner explicitly made the unit available for the province for firefighting efforts. 

“They transported it at their own expense to Saskatchewan from Montana,” Roberts said.

There are currently 7,320 evacuees in registered care and receiving services. Prince Albert is housing the most evacuees (2.764), followed by Saskatoon (2,761), Regina (826), Cold Lake (684) and North Battleford (385).

Evacuees won’t be heading back anytime soon as conditions in the north are still fairly dire in terms of smoke and the threat of fire.

The good news is that most of the fires burning in the province have been stable for the last 24 hours and have not grown.  There have not been any more structure losses in the past day. So far, there have been 12 homes or cabins lost.

SaskEnergy has been shutting down its natural gas systems and purging them as the gas can post a threat in terms of uncontrolled releases.

The Ministry of Environment is expecting a slightly cooler weather system, which should mean more progress on the fire lines.

“Significant rainfall over many days is what would be required to significantly change the behaviour and the long term process on these fires,” Roberts said.

The Eli fire which is a threat to Wadin Bay, English Bay and Sucker River is not contained. Crews are working around and within the Montreal Lake fire to secure the area. No fire losses have occurred after seven homes/cabins were lost earlier this week. The same is true for the fire near Ramsey Bay and Weyakwin. 

-with files from News Talk Radio’s Kelly Malone and paNOW’s Nigel Maxwell

panews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow