Nykole King, Regina Leader-Post
After confusion over when an evacuation is merited, vulnerable residents from the village of La Loche were able to travel south to Regina over the weekend, escaping heavy smoke from a nearby wildfire.
The La Loche village council declared a local state of emergency on Aug. 1 and issued a mandatory evacuation order due to threats and “extreme smoke” from the Park fire, according to documents posted to its Facebook page.
The controversy began two days later as two loaded buses were initially “not allowed to leave” by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), says a Facebook post on the Village of La Loche’s official page. It is signed by the village administrator, Martha Morin.
“It was strongly expressed to them that a policy decision like this should not be enacted mid-way through an evacuation, especially with no consultation with the community,” Morin said in the post, which summarized the incident from the village’s perspective. It went on to note that village officials met with SPSA officials leading the transportation effort and that the residents who had been on the loaded buses were allowed to leave.
SPSA vice-president of operations Steve Roberts addressed the situation on Wednesday during a wildfire update with media, clarifying that the confusion came from whether there was enough of a smoke threat to warrant evacuations on Sunday. When asked, he did not provide details on what criteria would prompt a smoke-related evacuation.
“… cancelling bus transportation after we had (residents) loaded and ready to leave was unacceptable. Especially since most qualify as (Priority 1 and Priority 2) residents,” Morin posted to the village’s social media account on Sunday evening.
Priority 1 is a designation for an individual deemed to be medically compromised, which could include someone who is receiving in-patient or out-patient care, according to information provided by the SPSA. The Priority 2 category includes primary caregivers of a Priority 1 individual or someone that is in close relation to a Priority 1 individual, such as children of a pregnant mother.
La Loche also conveyed to the provincial agency that its “Health Centre is not functional” and the stores in the community are “short-staffed and running out of supplies.”
The Regina Leader-Post attempted to reach the Village of La Loche before publication but did not receive a response.
The village has posted regular updates on social media since the weekend, including information for evacuees, while also noting that fire mitigation efforts were going well.
Its Facebook post on Sunday night suggested the buses were held up because of new criteria in the SPSA’s policies related to smoke. However, that was refuted by an SPSA spokesperson who said there have been “no changes” to evacuation criteria or policies.
“The SPSA is looking into how and where this misinformation developed,” said the statement, which added that the organization’s president, Marlo Pritchard, met with La Loche leadership to “discuss and clarify the misinformation. In the meantime, the SPSA is taking steps to ensure better communication with communities going forward.”
Roberts said Wednesday that the SPSA takes a number of factors into consideration when supporting an evacuation. Health-related concerns such as air quality are assessed by the Ministry of Health and provided directly to communities, he said, adding that it then becomes a “community-based decision” whether to evacuate due to smoke.
The SPSA said it is currently supporting over 350 evacuees from La Loche, providing basic necessities such as accommodation, food and health services.
The Park fire is approximately 10 kilometres north of La Loche’s north boundary, according to the SPSA’s interactive wildfire map as of Wednesday afternoon. The uncontained fire, which was first reported on June 28, has grown to over 63,000 hectares.
Around 500 residents from northern Saskatchewan were displaced over the weekend due to wildfires, including residents from Clearwater River Dene Nation, which is about 10 kilometres north of La Loche.
