WASKESIU — Conditions have been normal at the Waskesiu townsite this week after a wildfire and pre-evacuation alert was issued for Prince Albert National Park on Sunday.
Waskesiu Community Council chair Jim Kerby said on Friday that they are watching the Buhl Fire closely, but conditions been favourable.
"The townsite continues to have a good number of visitors,” Kerby said. “It's been actually a pretty nice week up here all together. A little bit more smoke rolled in today, but the weather forecast is favourable to move it away from us for the weekend, and there may be some rain up near the fire area as well, so that's positive.”
Kerby said the rain has stayed away for the most part, but in typical Saskatchewan fashion Elk Ridge got a downpour on Thursday evening and Waskesiu received virtually no precipitation.
"It's the hit and miss with thunderstorms as you understand,” Kerby said. “We are certainly hoping to see some rain in the vicinity, especially on Sunday.
While the townsite has had a good visitor numbers, Kerby said it’s down from what they would normally expect in the middle of July. He said many of the hoteliers he spoke to on Thursday are fully booked.
"We continue to try and let people know that there's no threat to personal safety or property right now,” Kerby said. “But, the situation needs to be carefully monitored and that's the way it is.
“I also think that our air quality here in Waskesiu has probably been no worse than in some cases.”
Kerby said the Marina at Waskesiu posts a photo of the lake every morning and evening, so visitors thinking about making the trip can see conditions for themselves.
"You see from those photos that it's actually overall through the week been pretty good. It's a little smokier this week, but I can still see to the other side of the lake, so that means it's not terrible by any stretch,” he said.
Kerby added that all of the community groups from the cottage owner, seasonal residents, Community Council and Chamber of Commerce are working together to make sure residents get information in a timely fashion.
"I think there's been considerable success there,” he said.
The Buhl fire is being fought by a unified command between Parks Canada and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency who brief community leadership at 3:30 p.m. each day.
"They have also been providing a daily written bulletin and we are all going out of the way as organisations here to make sure that that's promptly on social media, promptly circulated just to keep everybody posted on what's happening in terms of fighting the fire and its progress,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the team that's been brought together here.”
SPSA Vice-President Steve Roberts said in a virtual press conference on Friday exactly what a unified command is.
"All of our senior staff that are working on that fire are now working alongside the senior staff from Parks Canada,” Roberts said. “That means all of the management is reaching planning, the assessments, the resourcing gets coordinated so we don't get in each other's way.”
He added that they try not to be on cross-purposes and have the same strategic objective for managing the Buhl Fire. He gave the example of it being cross jurisdiction like if they were fighting a fire with Alberta on the border.
"It just happens that Parks Canada is a different jurisdiction where they have their own authority. We have our own authority on our side, but we've agreed to work cooperatively together to make sure we get the best overall impact in this,” Roberts said.
Kerby said that he is thankful for the professionalism exhibited by both the SPSA and Parks Canada.
"It's been really something to admire and done it under fairly intense conditions where you have to move very quick. I'm very impressed by the both the work they are doing and the efforts they have made at communication,” he said. According to an update on the Buhl Fire from Parks Canada, the fire remains 35 kilometers from the Waskesiu townsite.
The Buhl Fire’s was caused by a lightning strike. It has since burned roughly 42,615 hectares – 8,470 hectares within park boundaries and 34,146 hectares on provincial Crown land. Current resources assigned to the incident include 96 personnel, eight helicopters, and 12 pieces of heavy equipment.
