VIDEOS: Province hopeful northern wildfire efforts ‘turning a corner’

Three of those – the Egg fire, Sucker fire, and Clark fire – are in the La Ronge area. The Egg fire was initially pegged at 37,000 hectares, but more accurate fire mapping shows that number is closer to 22,950 hectares. That’s approximately 230 square kilometres, which is about the size of Saskatoon and Moose Jaw combined. The Clarke fire northwest of La Ronge is about 17,800 hectares in size, or 178 square kilometres – about the size of Saskatoon.

These fires may not yet be contained, but there is progress being made, said Steve Roberts, executive director of Wildfire Management.

“Not only do we have crews on the ground, and we have value protection units up, for instance the Sucker fire no longer is posing a threat to the Sucker River settlement,” he said.

“Value protection” refers to remote buildings that are not part of a larger community.

In regards to the Egg fire, there have heavy equipment pushing in mechanical fire guards in the Sikachu and Clam Crossing communities, which are bringing crews closer to containment, Roberts said.

On Tuesday night, Lac La Ronge Indian Band’s chief Tammy Cook-Searson expressed her appreciation for the firefighters’ efforts on Facebook, writing “Thank you to the Wild Fire Management Team, and everyone that collaborated to ensure the safety of the community members.”

When asked how he felt about posts like that, Roberts said “most of our crews are locals, I mean, we hire them locally so those are their friends and family that they’re working. So, you know, that’s good news from them. And considering that they have some difficult days behind them … it’s good to get some positive reflection back from communities.”

Sucker River wasn’t the only community with charred areas quite close to its structures.

“Some of the other settlements we literally had fire right up to the edge of the communities,” Roberts said.

Evacuations on hold

As of Wednesday, numbers of people who have been evacuated due to smoke and fire were holding steady at around 1,000 people total.

The 908 people registered by the government are split evenly between Saskatoon and Prince Albert.

Saskatoon is hosting 445 people, and Prince Albert has 449 people from the north staying in the city.

Most of the people in Prince Albert are with family and friend, or in hotels.

The change of pace for evacuees can be difficult, which is why the ministry has set up recreational activities, like visits from drum groups and showing movies, according to a spokesperson for the ministry of social services.

“They just want to know that their community is OK and that those people remaining in their communities are OK. And it’s just generally not as comfortable when you’re not able to be in your own home and in your own surroundings, and doing your normal routine. So those are normal anxieties that the people have,” the ministry’s spokesperson said.

According to the ministry of social services, only 14 had registered at the congregate facility set up by the Red Cross in the gym at Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Prince Albert campus.

Spokespeople in a teleconference on Wednesday were unable to tell when people from the La Ronge area will be able to return home, saying this decision will be made by the communities themselves.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, five new fires had been identified in the province.

There are 41 fires currently burning in the province, with 19 of those over 100 hectares in size.

– with files from Alex Soloducha

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk

by Chelsea Laskowski

VIDEOS: Province hopeful northern wildfire efforts ‘turning a corner’

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