SASKATOON — Saskatchewan Cumberland MLA Jordan McPhail advised residents returning to their communities in northern Saskatchewan to remain vigilant, as there are still active wildfires that have not yet been contained. However, these wildfires do not pose an immediate threat.
“Obviously, with wind, lightning, heat and humidity, it is not saying that we are completely out of the woods right now. It is not that we are no longer worried about a fire season,” McPhail told SaskToday on June 12.
“It's still June. There's still time for new fires to start in and around the community, with plenty of time for lightning and other potential hazards. So, we're telling folks to be vigilant about being fire smart and obeying fire bans.”
The first-term MLA temporarily moved his constituency office from La Ronge to a shared space with fellow Opposition lawmakers Vicki Mowat (Fairview), Kim Breckner (Riversdale), and April ChiefCalf (Westview) in Saskatoon after being among the thousands forced to evacuate.
He added that the public should continue to listen to and follow the advisories and recommendations issued by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, such as avoiding the use of ATVs and UTVs at this time.
“[Fire season] is not behind us. We still need to ensure that we're doing everything possible to stay safe, so we're not put in this situation again. It's not that it's the fault of any person on the ground. These events are a natural occurrence,” said McPhail.
“We need to ensure that we're always prepared to respond in northern Saskatchewan. I hope that the Premier and the government don't see the fire season as over now that people are going home. There's still lots of work ahead of us, and we need to debrief on what went wrong.”
He thanked firefighters, volunteer first responders, SPSA personnel, and all who were fighting the fires from the ground and the air to ensure that residents would still have homes and properties to return to in most parts of the affected communities.
“I know that there's going to be lots of people that don't have homes to return to, but those are things that our office is going to be working on with those local municipalities, those local administration arms, and starting to build out what we can do to help them,” said McPhail.
McPhail, who has also returned to La Ronge, added that the SPSA provided an update Thursday morning confirming residents can safely travel the highways and roads back to their communities. There are still active fires in Ditch02 and Pisew.
“My mother's back up there right now, has been up there for the last couple of days getting the hospital ready for accepting patients and being prepared to do patient care in the area. My dad's been up there the entire time fighting the fires,” said McPhail.
“They both assured me that the fires have died down. I spoke with Chief Tammy last night, and they're getting ready to accept the community back into their homes and starting to work on the rebuild and some of the reserves around La Ronge as well.”
