It was déjà vu for Gary Zelensky this week.
Zelensky lives northeast of Prince Albert in the RM of Garden River, and was one of the first residents impacted by the wildfires that began on Sunday.
It’s not the first time Zelensky and his family went through this. They experienced almost the exact same thing four years ago when the Cloverdale Fire jumped Hwy 55 and forced the evacuation of at least 35 homes.
“We went through this four years ago. Same fire. Same area,” Zelensky said during an interview on Thursday. “It came through and just about took our property out.
“(Four years ago) the fire was in our property,” he added. “We were set up, we had sprinklers on the house and stuff so there’s really nothing lost then. This time the fire was in the same area, but it didn’t get to the yard. The fire crew, they were on top of that pretty good.”
While Zelensky’s home is safe for now, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few tense moments. Warm weather and high winds made things difficult for firefighters on Sunday, and while conditions calmed down in the days that followed, the wind returned with a vengeance on Wednesday.
“It was a little bit tense yesterday when that wind picked up because the fire came in between us and the Garden River Road,” Zelensky said on Thursday. “A south wind would have pushed it right into our yard, but the fire crew had it pretty well out by then.”
Zelensky and his family were asked to evacuate, but stayed behind to help fight the fire. Fortunately, the 2025 didn’t come as close as the one four years ago.
“We could move out and we had water sprinkling on the house and stuff so we wanted to stick around and monitor it,” Zelensky said. “We had a couple of water trucks in the yard in case there was some hotspots, but nothing really happened.”
Conditions have improved enough that all evacuees were able to return home, the RM of Garden River announced Tuesday evening. Zelensky said the experience has convinced him to be more proactive when it comes to removing dead and dried brush from his property.
Wildfires are a major concern in northern Saskatchewan. The RMs of Garden River, Buckland, and Prince Albert all put fire bans into effect, as did the City of Prince Albert for properties north of the river.
Thursday evening, the SPSA announced a fire ban encompassing all areas north of the provincial forest boundary up to the Churchill River. The ban prohibits fires, controlled burns, and fireworks in all designated areas, including provincial parks and recreation sites.
“At this time, implementing a fire ban is a necessary action to protect lives, communities, major infrastructure and resources from wildfire,” SPSA Vice-President of Operations Steve Roberts said in a press release. “The primary cause of the current wildfires in the province is human activity. We are strongly reminding the public that human-caused fires are preventable.”
The SPSA encourages all other municipalities, rural municipalities and communities to examine fire risks in their area and to consider implementing consistent fire bans to prevent unwanted human-caused wildfires.
As of 3 p.m., there are 28 wildfires burning in the province.
