Evacuees getting anxious to go home

The recent change in the weather patterns has raised hopes from many evacuees that they could return to their homes soon.

The last few days have seen a small number of people return home to certain communities that had not been directly impacted by the fires but which had been cut off, with convoys accompanying those back to those communities receiving that clearance.

But officials are downplaying those sentiments, though they sounded optimistic in their daily conference call with reporters Tuesday morning.

 “We would caution individuals that there is still fire operations and mop-up going on in many communities,” said Duane McKay, commissioner of emergency management with Government Relations.

He asked people consult their local leaders prior to returning to check up on recreational properties or to their own communities. The reason is for their personal safety, and also so as not to interfere with fire operations.

Overall there are 1,500 fire personnel continuing to fight the wildfires. McKay discouraged “freelance” firefighting efforts by individuals.

“We want to make sure that people are tied in to the normal infrastructure, that have the proper equipment, that they are part of an organized effort to secure firefighting and risk to communities and obviously to people in the area as well.”

In the overall operation, McKay reported they “continue to see some progress.”

There had been some rain in the near north, he reported, and “we look forward to the weather reports over the next couple of days. It might bring some precipitation, at least cooler temperatures.” 

Overall, according to Steve Roberts of the Ministry of Environment there have been 623 wildfires to date and 125 are active. Only two new fires were reported in the last 24 hours, resulting from lightning in both cases. 

A total of 480,000 hectares are estimated burned to date.

The number of evacuees staying in North Battleford has gone down somewhat from the weekend. Emergency Social Services reported the number at 320 as of Tuesday morning.

Overall, 10,398 were receiving social services as of Tuesday.

Karri Kempf of Emergency Social Services said evacuees are getting “more and more anxious to return home.”

Kempf also was wary of social media and Facebook, saying people “start with the best of intentions” but many of those providing information may be “getting that second-or-third-hand or they’re not professionals capable of assessing the situation the way a professional would.”