SPSA Vice President of Operations Steve Roberts told reporters on Monday that the wildfire situation continues to get worse with more communities evacuating and fires growing in size.
As of Monday afternoon there 16 active fires, five contained, six not contained, four are under ongoing assessment and one is under the protected values classification, with 219 reported since the start of the season, well above the five-year average of 131.
The Shoe Fire near Lower Fishing Lakes remains the largest fire at 407,000 hectares after growing since Sunday. The fire has forced the closure of Highway 165 and led to the evacuations of East Trout Lake, Little Bear, Whelan Bay and Lower Fishing lakes and the closure of narrow Hills Provincial Park. Highways 913 and 912 north of the Shoe Fire are both closed as well.
During an update on Sunday, Roberts said that the fire break adjacent to Highway 120 northeast of Candle Lake is progressing well but there was no estimate of when it would be completed. Roberts said multiple pieces of heavy equipment bulldozers clearing that back to provide a potential barrier should the fire move towards that community.
On Sunday Candle Lake issued a warning that the Shoe Fire was 14 kilometers from the Resort Village.
The Jay Smith Fire, north of Missinippi is impacting Highway 2 but traffic can move through. It has led to the evacuations of Brabant Lake and is currently estimated at 38,000 hectares.
The Ditch Fire north of Weyakwin has caused closures and partial closures of Highway 2 and Highway 969 and is 15,000 hectares. Whelan Bay, Ramsey Bay, Timber Bay and Molanosa have been evacuated.
The PISU Fire west of La Ronge is estimated at 83,000 hectares and has led to evacuations of Hall Lake, Wadin Bay, Sucker River, English Bay and Nemeiben including the park site.
The Wolf Fire west of Denare Beach has led to a full evacuation of all staff at the Foran Mine and has moved westward and is a direct threat to Denare Beach and has impacted travel on Highway 106.
“It is previously estimated at 30,000 hectares. We do not have an updated size, but it has grown substantially overnight,” Roberts said.
The Pelican Fire north of Pelican Narrows has led to the evacuation of Pelican Narrows and has impacted Highway 135 which is the access to both Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay.
The fire is estimated at 9,000 hectares but Roberts said it has grown but has yet to be mapped by the SPSA.
The Club Fire near Creighton and Flin Flon is 25,000 hectares but that is only data from the Saskatchewan side and forced the closure of Highway 106.
“This fire has crossed the border, (and) continues to grow on both sides of the border,” Roberts said. “The Saskatchewan portion, previously listed at 25,000 hectares, has grown to the north away from the community.”
Summarizing the impact Roberts said that 26 communities, parks and mines are on evacuation order and have been evacuated.
“I can’t stress this enough non-essential travel on any of these roads is not advised,” Roberts said. “Seriously consider—if you do wish to travel—that there is a bona fide essential need. The situation is fairly dynamic and roads that were open this morning at 9 o’clock are already closed, so take that into consideration on whether you really need (to go) there. These roads do have to be allowed to be open because there is essential food, emergency support that has to get through and cannot be tampered by non-essential travel.
“The Highway Hotline is being updated almost immediately as soon as we notify them of these closures, so please refer to the Highway Hotline to plan any travel, then work at this time.
The SPSA verified 163 confirmed values losses including homes, cottages and other structures.
The fire ban and ATV and UTV ban will remain in place for all of northern Saskatchewan.
Roberts said that SPSA crews are hard at work managing and protecting the resources of Saskatchewan and they are grateful to all of their international and national partners who are assisting.
“Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories have come from across Canada to help and we also have support from our US neighbours, the state of Alaska, the state of Oregon and the state of Arizona,” Roberts said.
“We appreciate their support as we fight through these very busy times and try to protect people’s roads access and get these fires contained as best as we can until we see a turn in weather.”
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
