Residents of the Waterhen Lake First Nation are beginning to return to their homes.
An evacuation order had been issued on Tuesday due to a wildfire threatening the main access road in and out of the community.
However, Ray Unrau, an official with Saskatchewan Government Relations says this concern has now subsided and residents are being allowed back into the community.
“There was a thought at one point in time that the fire would cause a direct kind of obstruction for people to get in and out of the community and that concern has since been removed by wildfire management – that concern is gone – so the community has decided to go back in,” he says.
During the evacuation order, Waterhen residents were housed in Saskatoon, Meadow Lake and North Battleford.
Due to smoke concerns, officials are still recommending those with respiratory health problems stay out of the community.
However, Marni Williams, an official with the Ministry of Social Services, says the majority of the community’s evacuees have now returned home.
“About 25 evacuees are remaining in Saskatoon,” she says.
Earlier in the week, Waterhen Lake First Nation Chief Joanne Roy said 800 of the community’s 857 residents had been evacuated due to fire concerns.
Unrau says Waterhen residents began returning to their homes about 10 a.m. this morning.
He says the government also has machines called “air scrubbers” on the ground which are essentially large filters that take smoke particulates out of the environment and create fresh air spaces.
Unrau adds residents have been equipped with devices to measure the ongoing air quality.
The Tuff fire has been as big as 2,600 hectares in size.
(PHOTO: Fire map. Photo courtesy of Government of Saskatchewan.)