North Battleford continues to house evacuees as emergency personnel in the province strive to get a handle on the ongoing wildfire situation in the north.
Karri Kempf, manager information and emergency services for Social Services, reports there are 447 evacuees in North Battleford.
That is the number receiving services from Social Services.
All the evacuees are being housed at hotels in the city. There are no congregate facilities being used there. The numbers include individuals from La Loche and Turner Lake areas.
The receiving centre at North Battleford is now at full capacity, as is Prince Albert, Kempf reported.
There is some space available in Saskatoon — a new centre is being set up there — and there is space available in Regina which is where most of the new evacuees are being taken now.
Recreational activities are being provided in all centres, now. It was also reported the evacuees in Regina had a chance to take part in the Canada Day festivities there.
More than 5,000 evacuees have been received by Social Services in the four centres. Fifty-one communities have seen evacuations and a number of evacuees have gone to family and friends. All those communities have significant smoke risk.
Thursday morning a total of 525 fires had been reported in Saskatchewan, way up from 192 last year. There were 116 active wildfires burning as of Thursday.
According to Daryl Jessop, director of wildfire support services for the Ministry of Environment, 35 were described as “uncontained.”
The major fires continue to be mainly in the vicinity of the La Ronge and La Loche.
Duane McKay, commissioner of emergency management and safety with Government Relations, noted there was still extensive smoke in the northern areas. There has been a significant ramping up of resources to those communities, he said.
Priorities were containment of the fires, with priority centring on fires directly affecting community infrastructure.
People are urged to not interfere with the work going on in the north.
