Mayor of Beauval, Sask., says more crews needed after wildfire reached village
Flames moved in as last bus with evacuees left village
After wildfire reached the edge of Beauval, Sask., the village's mayor says the evacuation and firefighting response have been very effective, but he wants more crew in the area to support overworked responders.
"Type 3 workers, that's what we're short of. We need more training and we need more equipment to prepare our communities," said Rick Laliberte. "Looking forward and preparing for the future, if this is going to be the normal, we have to have local initial response teams."
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Fire destroyed a seasonal canteen building at the local recreation grounds on Thursday. But as of Friday afternoon, Laliberte confirmed no homes had been lost in the village that's about 340 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
Beauval and the nearby La Plonge reserve issued mandatory evacuation orders on July 3, following a voluntary evacuation order. The hamlet of Patuanak, which is only accessible by Highway 918 that runs north from Beauval, continues to be in a state of emergency after the fire closed the road, and priority residents have been being airlifted out.
Laliberte said it is fortunate so many people in Beauval took part in the voluntary evacuation when it was declared last week, so that support workers weren't overwhelmed.
"We couldn't have timed it any better," said Laliberte. "That flame moved in as our last bus and the last few evacuees left the community. And then the fire came into our community and the wildfire fighters and the structural firefighters had their hand at it."
Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said on Friday that the fire came "right adjacent" to Beauval. He credited firefighters with putting out the spot fires caused by embers that blew in.
"We worked on protecting the townsite itself and that involved putting out a number of spot fires that came from embers that … ended up inside the town boundaries, but those were extinguished."
Meanwhile, a separate fire is threatening the community of Jans Bay, about 30 kilometres west of Beauval. That community issued a mandatory evacuation order Friday morning.
'Awesome firefighters'
Longtime Beauval resident Shirley Martin is relieved the homes there are safe. She was one of more than 500 residents who had to evacuate the town on July 3.
"We have awesome firefighters, awesome people up there that did an awesome job to save homes," she said. "I'm very grateful for those men and women up there for what they're doing."
Martin has been in a Saskatoon hotel for more than a week.
"At first I guess you could say it was OK, but being away from home for nine days is quite different," she said.
Wendy Eldridge, a former deputy mayor of Beauval, has taken on the role of community liaison at the Saskatoon Travelodge, where many evacuees are staying.
"There was lots of anxiety amongst us all yesterday," she said. "A lot of people have left pets behind and lots of people have family members that are on the front lines and volunteering back home."
Eldridge says her daughter narrowly escaped on Thursday as the fire got dangerously close.
"She had to literally drive through flames," Eldridge said. "She called me and she was scared. She said it was like out of the scene of a movie."
While many of the evacuees are staying in Saskatoon, Eldridge says others have been sent to Moose Jaw and other cities. She says that while co-ordinating the evacuees has been "chaotic," she's working to keep them busy.
"We've got lots of activities planned for the kids, and some for the elders as well."
Eldridge said the community has come together to support each other.
"There's been a lot of volunteerism. This is what people do when, when times are tough. You stick together."
Despite the emotional toll, Martin said the strength of the community has helped carry her on.
"We're all holding out," Martin said. "I know we're all going to go home."
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With files from Katie Swyers