An image of the blaze at the Fort à la Corne Forest taken Thursday. (submitted photo/Caitlyn and Jordyn Sachkowski)

By Glenn Hicks

Wildfire

Fort à la Corne wildfire doubles in size

May 15, 2020 | 2:48 PM

The wildfire burning in the Fort à la Corne Forest east of Prince Albert doubled in size overnight. It was estimated at 5,303 hectares.

The fire started May 8 but jumped a guard Thursday fanned by high winds.

It is not contained and was measured at around 2,500 hectares yesterday.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said it was responding to the fire with dozers, ground crews, helicopters and air tankers.

“All efforts are being made to protect the values in the area,” an emailed statement said.

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It added there were some concerns regarding smoke impacting some of the residents within James Smith Cree Nation (JSCN). An SPSA Emergency Services Officer is in contact with the community and First Nations Emergency Management, as well as surrounding municipalities.

JSCN has evacuated a small number of Priority 1 community members for precautionary reasons, the statement said.

(Sask Wildfire Management)

The mapping of the wildfire shows it runs to the northern edge of the Saskatchewan River just east of where it forks with the North Saskatchewan River and to the west of English Creek.

(submitted/ Dale Conn)

In an email, Rio Tinto said it removed all but a few essential personnel from its diamond exploration site in the area and have worked with emergency services to take precautionary measures such as sprinklers and clearing fire breaks.

“Rio Tinto is monitoring the situation closely and working with emergency services,” a company spokesman said.

A resident who lives about 10 kilometres from the fire said he’d seen a lot more air tanker activity through this afternoon.

With files from Mat Barrett/northeastNOW

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow