A wildfire burning near Southend. (Submitted photo/Simon Jobb)

By Glenn Hicks and Nigel Maxwell

Fire response

Wildfires: some weather relief in north as fires burn across province

Jul 16, 2021 | 2:18 PM

A shift in wind direction towards the south Friday will be of some benefit for most crews tackling many wildfires across the north, although that means more smoke further south.

Cloudy and cooler weather is coming to the north, but so too is the likelihood of lightning, and a provincial official said any rains that do come will not be a ‘fire-ending event.’

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Over fifty regular structural firefighters have been added to the wildfire crews and a larger retardant aircraft has been acquired from Northwest Territories.

There are 137 wildfires burning in the province, well above the average, with crews continuing to tackle large blazes in the far northwest, north and north central areas.

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A wildfire has ignited in Narrow Hills Provincial Park north of Smeaton.(Submitted photo/Roger Boucher)

Smeaton

Smeaton is the latest community to be affected.

Provincial campsites at Lower Fishing Lake, Zeden Lake and Ispuchaw Lake were being evacuated at Narrow Hills Provincial Park.

Highway 106 (Hanson Lake Road) south of Narrow Hills Provincial Park is closed for 30 kilometres at Smeaton. The fire is within 500 metres of the road in spots. Travellers were being told to use Highway 120 from Candle Lake.

One camper, David Sereda, told CKOM he was hoping to stay at his cabin in the park for another four days.

“There’s not a lot of people around. The campgrounds were pretty full but there’s no panic whatsoever, I suspect. It’s getting pretty quiet here.”

A spokesperson with the Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport confirmed to CKOM campsites at Lower Fishing Lake, Zeden Lake and Ispuchaw Lake in the park were in the process of being evacuated around 1 p.m.

There wasn’t any indication that cabin owners were part of the evacuation orders.

Earlier Friday Steve Roberts with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) , said the bottom half of Narrow Hills Provincial Park north of Smeaton had a wildfire.

Campers left the area from Narrow Hills Provincial Park on Friday afternoon, seen here at the intersection of Highways 106 and 55 near Smeaton (Submitted photo)

“Our expectation will be for winds from the north which will keep the fire from moving any further into the park for the next 24 hours,” he said during a media conference.

He said earlier an evacuation advisory was in place but the evacuation of the areas was an indication of how quickly things can change on the ground.

Whelan Bay

The White fire, which sparked within five kilometres of Whelan Bay, 35 minutes north of Candle Lake on Thursday moved in a good direction, according to Roberts.

Whelan Bay wildfire taken from White Swan boat launch (Submitted photo/Lionel Merkosky)

“It progressed north—a favourable direction—so it has not moved any closer to the community,” he said. “Efforts have been to secure the side of the fire closest to the community and there will be crews and heavy equipment on that today.”

A total of 80 evacuees from Whelan Bay have registered with the SPSA.

La Ronge

Meanwhile, the fires burning around La Ronge and further north are causing ongoing issues with smoke and highway impacts.

The Rabbit fire south of La Ronge was running parallel to the highway and about a mile away.

La Ronge mayor Colin Ratushniak called on the community not to panic, despite intermittent highway closures. He said there was no imminent threat or emergency situation.

As of Friday afternoon Highway 102 and 915 near Stanley Mission, north of La Ronge, was closed; Highway 2 was closed south of La Ronge; and the junction at Highway 165 to Creighton was closed.

Embers causing danger in Southend

In Southend, Roberts said regular fire department members were working within the community to patrol and ensure there were no fire starts as wildfire crews handled things on the front line.

Chief Karen Bird of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation says the situation at Southend is getting worse with the main fire inching closer to the community, and other fires developing around the community.

“We do have sprinklers that are being brought up there for the community because what’s happening is the ashes are falling in the community and the boat covers have holes in them now,” she said.

To make matters worse, the power keeps going on and off. Over 160 community members sought refuge at Reindeer Lake but have still been returning to the community for groceries and gas.

“People are worried about their food and their freezers,” Bird said.

According to Friday’s update from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, there’s two fires of concern at Southend. One fire east of the community is 35 square/km in size, and the other fire west of the community is five square kilometres in size.

Roughly 60 people remain in the community, including health care staff, security and firefighters. Bird explained one of the concerns is health care staff may leave due to the air quality issues. She added she’s also concerned about the level of support on the ground, after hearing this week there’s eight firefighters on site, being assisted by two planes.

“That’s not enough. We need to get the resources there or else we are going to lose our homes” she said “Our reserve has 1,200 people and if we get displaced, that’s a crisis right there.”

For a full list of the main wildfires of concern check the SPSA website link and click ‘latest wildfire update’ at the top left of the page.

-with files from CKOM

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glenn.hicks@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertNOW