The grey area shows the fires as of Thursday morning. Photo courtesy Canadian Wildland Fire Information System’s website
Alberta’s mammoth wildfire dubbed “The Beast” has now burned its way into Saskatchewan.
Since it began near Fort McMurray on May 1, the out-of-control fire has consumed about 4,800 square kilometres of forest.
Some of that burn, about eight square kilometres, is Saskatchewan forest. The fire moved about five kilometres since yesterday. La Loche is now only about 25 km away but the biggest threat remains the smoke and not the flames. A fire guard, lakes, and lack of fuel for the fire should slow its progress towards La Loche.
The view in la Loche on Wednesday afternoon. Photo courtesy Facebook, Alvie Piche.
The province’s director of emergency management, Duane McKay, says crews and communities are ready.
“It’s really about preparation, we continue to refine our plans,” he says. “We are working closely with the First Nations and municipalities to make sure they are ready, that they have good communications between the province and the local decision makers.”
The executive director of Wildfire Management, Steve Roberts, says crews alone will not be able to stop the progress of the fire. He says a major shift in the weather is what is really needed.
“Well, rain will have to be a factor. There are likely not enough resources to put out a fire of such a large size,” he says. Roberts adds a change in the weather pattern over the next 24 hours should push the fire back on itself, clear some smoke out of the La Loche area and give crews a chance to get up to the base of the fire to try to push it back.
As of today, there are nine fires burning in Saskatchewan for a yearly total of 154. Two are listed as not contained. In other words they are expected to get bigger despite suppression efforts.
One of them is in the Buffalo Narrows region, the other is near Ile-a-la-Crosse.