An image of the Whelan Bay wildfire taken from Candle Lake at 2 p.m. (submitted/Ashlee Leeb)

By paNOW Staff

wildfire

Whelan Bay, north of Candle Lake ordered to evacuate

Jul 15, 2021 | 3:28 PM

An evacuation order has been issued for Whelan Bay (White Swan Lake) subdivisions or campgrounds. Whelan Bay is 35 minutes north of Candle Lake.

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) issued the evacuation order at 3:08 p.m. Thursday due to a wildfire that is threatening the residents and vacationers.

The wildfire -which sparked into life at 1 p.m. – is fast moving and individuals who reside or camp or work in the Whelan Bay (White Swan Lake) subdivisions or campgrounds are required to evacuate immediately.

All evacuees were asked to register at the Candle Lake Community Hall, #20 Highway 265, Candle Lake.

People started to gather at the Candle Lake Community Hall Thursday afternoon ( Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

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Fire size

The SPSA told paNOW the fire is 55 hectares in size and is located approximately 5 km to the west of the community at Whelan Bay.

Community officials are going door to door requesting cooperation on the evacuation.

Told to leave immediately

Evacuees started arriving at the Candle Lake Community Hall later Thursday afternoon.

One of them, Lionel Merkosky told paNOW they had to get moving pretty quickly.

“They told us we had to leave.” he said. ” Since it’s my permanent residence it’s very disheartening because there’s a lot of valuable stuff and my whole life is there. But my life is more important so we had to go.”

Merkowsky said he was told he’d have to spend at least the night away from home and officials told him when he left Whelan Bay there was the potential for the wildfire to work around the lake and reach the cabins there.

Another evacuee Bill Hogan, from Saskatoon, owns property at White Swan Lake. He said there were a lot of police and emergency officials going door to door getting people out.

” They’ve got firefighters up there and the water bombers are getting water out of the lake.”

Candle Lake ready to help

Earlier in the afternoon the mayor of Candle Lake, Terry Kostyna, told paNOW, they have emergency preparedness staff in place to welcome evacuees.

He said it was his understanding from talking with the SPSA that everyone heading south from Whelan Bay towards Candle Lake should register at the Candle Lake community hall, regardless of whether they intend to stay or move on.

” So, as I understand it, they can take an inventory of who has been through or out, so they can keep track of people.”

Asked if Candle Lake could accommodate an influx of evacuees, Kostyna said: “We can always make something work at Candle Lake.”

Signs are up on the highway at Candle Lake ready to welcome any evacuees heading south from Whelan Bay.(Dawson Thompson/paNOW Staff)

Candle Lake remains vigilant

As for the community of Candle Lake, a Facebook post by The Resort Village said it had been in communication with the Fire Base at Lower Fishing Lake regarding two active fires burning North East of the community. These fires are both a significant distance away and not an active threat to Candle Lake, the post said.

It added, in Candle Lake, you may observe increased smoke, helicopter activity and airplane water tankers filling in Candle Lake, please provide them enough room to maneuver safely.

This story will be updated as we get more information.

panews@pattisonmedia.com