Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan continue to burn and as of Monday morning flames were reported to have moved closer to the community of La Ronge.
“The fire is immediately adjacent to [La Ronge],” said director of wild fire management Steve Roberts in a phone-conducted press conference Monday morning. “The town boundaries are secured, but that doesn’t mean the fire won’t move.”
Roberts said the fire had encroached past the
La Ronge Airport, with a few kilometres to spare on the west side of the community.
“We have crews working those edges, but the town is still at risk,” said Roberts.
An additional seven fires from lightning were reported in Saskatchewan over the weekend. There are 63 fires burning in the La Ronge area alone.
Roberts reported a total of 621 fires to date in the province, with 127 still burning.
The warm, dry weather continued over the weekend. An estimated one to three millimetres of rain fell on Sunday.
“That’s not enough to significantly change the behaviour of the fire,” said Roberts.
While seven new fires had been reported, Roberts said the size of the fires had not drastically changed.
As of Monday morning, there were about 480,000 hectares on fire in Saskatchewan.
Some areas improved over the weekend, and evacuation notice was lifted from Grandmother’s Bay, Dillon, Michel Village and St. George Hill, all in the eastern part of the province.
Residents from those four communities received an evacuation order last week due to health concerns, but Duane McKay, of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment, reported the residents were eligible to return to their homes as early as Sunday evening.
“People have been out for an extended period of time and that does create concern on how long it will last,” said McKay. “We want to make it safe for them and secure the communities as rapidly as possible.
McKay said an estimated 50 Saskatchewan communities were still under an evacuation order of some kind.
Just shy of 1,500 people are on the ground fighting the fire including fire crews, volunteers, military personnel and firefighters from outside the province.
There were 59 helicopters and 29 air tankers working on reducing the fires from above as of Monday morning.
Ninety people have started a four-day training session in Prince Albert to prepare them to help battle the blaze in La Ronge.
