People who were evacuated from Fond Du Lac are heading home today.

Flights began leaving at noon from Prince Albert.

They are carrying roughly 240 people who were taken out of the community after thick smoke blew into the reserve.

All of the evacuees are expected to be returned home later today.

Steve Roberts of Saskatchewan Environment says they really began to get a handle on the fire after the wind shifted.

This caused the fire to double back onto itself and partially extinguish in some places.

Damp weather has also helped mitigate the situation but Roberts says they’ll still be watching the fire closely:

“But the area of biggest concern, next to the shore of the lake did burn out and that was posing the highest risk to the community from a fire perspective.  That piece has pretty much burned itself out.”

The fire is currently listed at over 16,000 hectares in size.

Roberts says there are an additional four to six fires burning in other locations throughout the north.