Candle Lake on edge as wildfires cast shadow over important May long weekend

As three nearby wildfires continue to burn nearby, the resort village of Candle Lake in northern Saskatchewan remains under a pre-evacuation alert, clouding the important Victoria Day long with concern for local officials and business owners.

The pre-evacuation alert, issued Thursday, was still in effect for the lakeside community, about 70 kilometres north of Prince Albert, as of Saturday, warning residents and visitors to be ready to leave on short notice.

The village sees a huge increase in visitors during the summer months, typically beginning with the Victoria Day long weekend, said Candle Lake chief administrative officer Brent Lutz.

"We go from a community of about 1,000 permanent residents to over 10,000 people here in the summer," said Lutz. "The May long weekend is the start of our summer season, and we literally see thousands of people coming back to their seasonal properties."

A local business owner said the long weekend is an important one for the village.

"For us, we're a seasonal business, so May long weekend represents opening for the season," said Shauna Kulbida, co-owner of Craft Ice Cream and Eatery. "Like many other businesses out here, this is a prime time for us to get amped up for the season and get going."

But with the pre-evacuation alert in effect, there are concerns hanging over any celebrations this long weekend.

"It's definitely in the background of our minds, and making sure that we're prepared in case it does become an actual evacuation," said Kulbida.

She has lived in Candle Lake for three years, and said she's never experienced anything like this before.

"There's definitely anxiety about it. I mean, it is a drier spring for sure. We haven't had much rain," said Kulbida. "As a business owner out here as well, it weighs on you because it's also part of our livelihood."

Lutz said the alert was issued to get ahead of any potential risk.

"We wanted to make the community aware that there is a possible outcome, if they were to make their way to our community, that we would have to be prepared to take action," the CAO said.

"We didn't want to cause alarm, but we wanted people to be aware and think about the things they need to do to be prepared."

Village has prepared for wildfire scenario: CAO

Despite the alert, the village is proceeding with its planned "Welcome Back to the Lake" event on Saturday, including displays from local organizations and a family concert.

"We're really excited about the event that we have. And right now, there's no immediate risk to the village," said Lutz.

"[Saskatchewan musician] Jeffery Straker is going to be performing. We're expecting a good crowd of people just to be able to socialize and see people they haven't seen since last summer."

Lutz said the village has been preparing for a wildfire scenario for some time, learning from past disasters in other communities, including last summer's devastating fire in Alberta's Jasper National Park.

"Certainly when we saw what happened in Jasper, we recognized that living in nature means that there is a possible risk," he said. "We've been working at preparing our community for that. We're hoping this is just an exercise and that nothing comes of this."

The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is supporting the village with resources and mutual aid agreements, and residents are being asked to make evacuation plans, keep their gas tanks full, and prepare emergency kits.

Updates are being posted on the Village of Candle Lake's website and on its Facebook page.

As Saturday, fire bans remained in place around Candle Lake and through almost all of central and northern Saskatchewan.

There are currently 12 wildfires burning across the province, only half of which are contained, according to the province.