Slowly but surely, firefighters from both inside and outside the province are beating back the wildfires that have consumed hundreds of thousands of hectares in the north. The best piece of news this week is that most people are being returned to their homes, save for two communities: Hall Lake and Clam Crossing.
“We have nearly completed the evacuation and repatriation portion,” said Colin King, deputy commissioner for emergency management and fire safety. All evacuation orders have been lifted for the La Ronge area and people are in the process of settling back into their homes. Support is in place to allow them to return seamlessly.
For La Loche and Turner Lake, medical support is being organized to allow the return of health priority evacuees, which King said on Monday would mostly happen on Tuesday.
Though people can return, firefighters are still trying to contain the fires and keep them from encroaching on communities again. King said that co-ordination between agencies and ministries, as well as leadership in the different communities, has been excellent.
“It’s been a complex and occasionally trying but overall successful operation so far,” King said.
Karri Kempf, manager of information and emergency services with the province, said that there are almost 3,000 people still receiving emergency support, though that may not necessarily reflect the total number of evacuees since some are staying with friends and family. Of those 3,000, Kempf anticipates there being fewer than 900 remaining as of Tuesday.
“I fully expect that we will be down to a few dozen by Wednesday morning,” Kempf said.
Right now there is no known cost for the emergency assistance, but work on determining a number will start once everybody is home.
“Right now, we’re really focused on the people in front of us and providing those direct services,” Kempf said.
“We really try to stay with the people and make them a priority and that (information) is secondary.”
The rain and cooler weather helped a bit with fighting the fires, but this coming week’s temperatures are set to climb.
“That will generate increased fire activity … we’re prepared for that and understand that all the work we’ve done over the last number of days will support us and we can maintain our boundaries on some of these fires,” said Steve Roberts, executive director, wildfire management.
There are about 800 personnel left on the ground after the 200 military members went home on Tuesday.
“We wanted to thank them for their service,” Roberts said. “They’ve been a great help, working with us on these fires.”
Roberts added that many of the soldiers were excited for the chance to help out fellow Canadians.
This week, there will be 60 firefighters added to crews already there. This is because of the expected flare-ups due to the heat and possible lightning.
“Considering the number of direct fire threats, the number of community losses has been very, very low,” Roberts said. However, he added that while the firefighters have been doing a good job, they take losses personally, so their feelings are “mixed.” Ninety-nine structures have burned, but there are no specific numbers as to how many were permanent residences.
As for whether fires of this magnitude will be a worry next year, Roberts said fire seasons aren’t cyclical so it’s hard to tell right now.
There are 98 fires in the province. There have been 646 to date, compared to 235 last year.
