Waskesiu Lake was the scene of a late night incident over the weekend, which required a campsite evacuation and a quick response by RCMP and park wardens. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Prompt Response

Park wardens, RCMP well-prepared to handle weekend situation

Aug 12, 2020 | 2:00 PM

A quick response, isolation of the area, and relocation of affected campers and visitors were key to the handling of a strange incident in Prince Albert National Park (PANP) this weekend.

Cal Martin, Field Unit Superintendent with PANP, said a park warden was first on the scene when campers started to report an individual making noise in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Reports came in of a male yelling and causing a disturbance to those in the campground. Campers reported loud noises that may have been gunshots or bear bangers. The man fled the scene in a vehicle, driving down a walking trail before crashing into an RCMP vehicle and fleeing on foot, Martin said.

“The park warden is authorized to respond to a criminal code violation if it poses an imminent threat in case the RCMP gets there first. A park warden did respond to this incident because it started out as a noise complaint, but then on scene the park warden was notified that it could potentially be a firearms complaint then the RCMP were notified and they attended,” Martin said.

RCMP soon arrived and took over the call. On site, police worked in tandem with the wardens to close off the area, keep campers safe and help them relocate immediately, and notify those in nearby residences as well as owners of businesses in the area to stay away, he said.

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To further communicate with the public, RCMP put out a press release describing the situation, and communicated with the public via an app called Everbridge, which limits public safety concerns.

“Everybody was very helpful, especially the campers in the overflow area. They were disturbed late at night and asked to move out of the area to keep them safe,” Martin said. “They all willingly did that, obviously we refunded all of them their camping fees. They relocated to other areas of the park late at night, and we didn’t get a single complaint from any of them.”

In addition to highlighting protocols in place to handle situations when they do arise, Martin pointed out that it is very rare for any serious conflicts to arise in a national park.

“We do a lot of work in terms of preventing incidents in the first place. We do a lot of education and awareness of visitors, we take prevention measures in terms of the design of our spaces, and we plan for visitor use to try to reduce conflicts that could come up,” he said.

At the end of the ordeal, a man was arrested without incident, and park visitors were able to return to their camp sites once again.

The RCMP did not lay any charges relating to firearms, which are not allowed in any national park.

Thirty-year-old Christopher Anthony Sanderson was charged with uttering threats, causing a disturbance, dangerous operation of a vehicle, failing to stop for police, obstruction, mischief, and assault of a police officer.

He is set to appear in court Aug. 20.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden