PRINCE ALBERT NATIONAL PARK — Some moisture has been a welcome site for people in Waskesiu.
Parks Canada reissued a pre-evacuation alert for Prince Albert National Park on July 20 due to the Buhl Wildfire that has potential to lower air quality and/or visibility due to wildfire smoke.
Waskesiu Community Council chair Jim Kerby said on Friday that the rain was a welcome site.
“We had excellent rain here early this (Friday) morning. It rained last evening closer to midnight and the smoke is gone,” Kerby said. “(It’s) bright blue skies. It’s a nice feeling to see some moisture return here.”
Kerby said the rain is one of two positive developments .The other is the firefighting efforts on the southeast corner of the Buhl Fire, which Kerby said has made a difference.
“They have been holding that fire with basically little to no movement towards Waskesiu and Elk Ridge areas for quite a number of days,” he said.
When the first pre-evacuation alert went out on July 13 the fire was 40 kilometres away from Waskesiu. According to Friday’s Parks Canada update, the fire is 30.5 kilometres away.
“The winds have basically been in our favour, but this isn’t over,” Kerby said. “There was an evacuation order for Ramsey Bay, so that’s that is an indication that the winds were favourable to the Waskesiu and Elk Ridge area.”
The fire is currently 30.5 kilometres from the Waskesiu townsite, four kilometres from Ramsey Bay, 12.5 kilometres from Montreal Lake Cree Nation, 34.7 kilometres from Elk Ridge, and 37.8 kilometres from McPhee Lake.
“There’s still serious issues going on in Northern Saskatchewan but a lot of relief in this part of the country, right now,” he said.
Kerby said he noticed fewer people in Waskesiu this week than on a normal July week, but things were picking up as the weekend approached.
“Given what’s just happened with the rain, etcetera, I think we’re hoping for a good weekend,” he said. “We hope too for some normalcy, but with people having to continue to be diligent and to pay attention to what the authorities are telling us.”
Kerby again thanked both Parks Canada and SPSA firefighters for their continuing work on the Buhl Fire.
“The crews that have been working on this, they really do an incredible job and the updates that have been coming from the joint management with Parks Canada and the SPSA have been just excellent,” he said. “They briefed the community leadership every day at 3:30 and they also create bulletins to update these communities. I think it’s about all you can ask for.”
The Buhl Fire, first identified on June 29, was caused by a lightning strike and has burned
approximately 74,364 hectares – 12,313 hectares within park boundaries and 62,050 hectares on provincial Crown land. Current resources assigned to the incident include 169 personnel not including additional SPSA support staff, 11 helicopters, one infrared scanning drone and nine pieces of heavy equipment. The Buhl Fire response also has access to additional air support as and if required, including water tankers.
|According to Friday’s SPSA update, as of 11 a.m. there are 55 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. Of those active fires, five are categorized as contained, 14 are not contained, 18 are ongoing assessments and 18 are listed as protecting values.
Twelve communities are currently under an evacuation order including Resort Subdivision of Lac La Plonge, La Plonge Reserve, Northern Village of Beauval, Northern Hamlet of Jans Bay, Resort Subdivision of Ramsey Bay, Patuanak/English River First Nation, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Northern Village of Pinehouse, Canoe Lake Cree First Nation/Canoe Narrows, Île-à-la-Crosse, Resort Subdivision of Cole Bay and Resort Subdivision of Little Amyot Lake.
