Evacuations underway as wildfire creeps closer to Clearwater River Dene Nation, La Loche
Both communities issued evacuation orders on Friday
More than a dozen communities in Saskatchewan's north are under evacuation orders due to wildfires and smoky conditions.
Clearwater River Dene Nation, more than 500 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, is the latest to issue a mandatory evacuation order. It was implemented over the weekend for priority one and two individuals, due to thick smoke from the nearby Park Fire.
A controlled back burn from the dozer line was completed Friday evening and removed a critical fuel run, the Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) emergency response team said in a Facebook post Friday.
"While this operation helped reduce risk, the fire remains active, volatile and unpredictable," the post said.
"Full evacuation is required for community safety and to allow crews space to operate effectively."
About 100 firefighters took position along the guard line Saturday, and crews are using helicopter supports and water hauling equipment to target hot spots, according to the CRDN emergency response team.
As of Monday evening, the Highway Hotline showed Highway 955 remained closed for roughly 60 kilometres from La Loche up to the Clearwater Truss Bridge.
La Loche under evacuation, local state of emergency
The nearby northern village of La Loche is also under an evacuation order.
Community leaders put the evacuation order in place due to the "wildfire in close proximity to the municipality and potential for extreme smoky conditions," according to the document shared by the community on Facebook last week.
A local state of emergency was also issued as the wildfire "requires prompt action to prevent harm or damage to the safety, health or welfare of persons located within the boundaries of the Northern Village of La Loche and to prevent damage within those boundaries," the declaration stated.
"All of our [evacuee] buses have made it safely to Regina," the community's administrator Martha Morin confirmed in a Facebook post late Monday afternoon.
Buhl Fire lingers near Prince Albert National Park
"Fire activity continues to be challenging this week due to smoke and the ongoing warm, dry and windy conditions," Parks Canada said in its Monday update.
The park is currently being threatened by the lightning-caused Buhl Fire, which has now grown to more than 93,000 hectares with about 10 per cent of the blaze within the northeast end of Prince Albert National Park.
As of Monday, the fire remained in proximity to a number of communities within the park, including:
- Ramsey Bay at 0.9 kilometres
- Montreal Lake at 12.5 kilometres
- Waskesiu at 30.6 kilometres
- Bittern Lake at 31.8 Kilometres
- Elk Ridge at 34.8 kilometres
- McPhee Lake at 37.9 kilometres
Parks Canada said 200 personnel are assigned to fighting the Buhl Fire. They're using 12 helicopters, 11 pieces of heavy equipment and one infrared scanning drone.
The SPSA is continuing to work alongside Parks Canada in its firefighting efforts to create barriers to prevent the flames from spreading, the update said. They're also using dozers to continue work along the guard line, and direct suppression tactics along the eastern and southeastern perimeters.
As of Monday afternoon, the SPSA said there are 82 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. Of those, seven are listed as contained.
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