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

By Glenn Hicks

Wildfire

Fort à la Corne wildfire contained

May 25, 2020 | 2:00 PM

The English Creek wildfire at Fort à la Corne is now contained.

Previously the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said while the blaze had been measured more accurately at 41,360 hectares it was not yet under control.

Speaking on Monday, Steve Roberts with the SPSA, said they do not expect the fire to go beyond the mapped perimeter, although there could still be activity. There was minimal property damage beyond the forest along the edges of the blaze.

“We could see flare-ups within the boundary in unburnt fuel,” Roberts told paNOW. “We could see crews working even though the fire is listed as contained, and we could see some smoke as things warm up or not.”

He said the recent weather had helped suppress the fire’s behaviour and they were then able to get more crews directly on the line and create guards. There is also the possibility of more rain in the coming days.

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Seven helicopters remain airborne with the ability to use infra-red scanning to detect hot spots, along with 25 specialist crew and 50 firefighters on the ground. Some of the dozen dozers that had been used will be stood down.

“We have 10 five-person crews working with equipment like water trucks to get in and start working from the perimeter inside dealing with things like hot spots,” he said.

While the total perimeter of the human-caused blaze is now measured, Roberts explained that did not mean the total area burnt was over 41,000 hectares. They will chart the actual damage to the forest at a later date.

“We’ll do an analysis to show what portions of the forest were intensely impacted, marginally impacted, or not at all. We don’t have a percentage of total area burned but we’re looking at maybe 20 to 25 per cent impact to the whole of the Fort à la Corne Forest,” he said

He added despite the size of the fire there was still a lot of pre-existing material left and he suggested the wildfire would have modified things for the better.

“Ecologically it has provided some diversity, and diversity is key for multiple animal species.”

As the wildfire grew earlier this month, Rio Tinto, which operates a diamond exploration site in the forest, removed all but a few essential personnel. The company told paNOW Monday it was continuing to monitor the situation closely with emergency services, as they worked to resume operations.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow