Photo courtesy of the Saskatchewan Department of Highways

About half the residents of Pelican Narrows have been evacuated from the community because of the threat of forest fires and heavy smoke, but the remaining residents are sitting tight, waiting for breaks in the heavy smoke and flames in order to be escorted out aboard evacuation buses.

The general evacuation order went out last night after the fires forced the closure of Highway 135 both north and south of Pelican Narrows. The chief of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Peter Beatty, describes the situation as volatile today. He says flames have come to within a few kilometres of the community of 3,500, but right now, the wind is working in their favour.

“You know if there was a heavy north wind, we would have a really, really big problem,” he said.

A couple of buses are at the local high school, waiting for the all clear to make an escorted leave. Boats are also being considered as an option if the road becomes impassable, but Chief Beatty says that is a limited option.

“We may need to use that in conjunction with the escorted vehicles if that is at all possible,” he said. “But as I said, it is an ever changing situation, so we are trying to deal with it as best we can at the moment.”

Residents are being evacuated to hotels and evacuation centres in Prince Albert and Saskatoon. Emergency Social Services, as well as the Red Cross, is helping meet their needs.

The fire threat in Pelican Narrows remains extreme because of dry conditions, high temperatures and virtually no rain since July.

Emergency service personnel will remain behind in Pelican Narrows until the last minute. Meanwhile, wildfire management is concentrating all of its efforts on the fires. The two fires are still listed as out of control.

The one north of Pelican Narrows is the Preston Fire, the larger one, southwest of the community, is the Granite Fire, which is now more than 400 square kilometres in size.