Photo: Submitted Photo Wildfire smoke can be seen on Sunday evening on Waskesiu Lake.
By Michael Oleksyn
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Prince Albert Daily Herald
From Prince Albert to Saskatoon smoke filled the air on Sunday evening as a wildfire has begun to encroach on the Prince Albert National Park and the Waskesiu townsite.
Just after 6 p.m. on Sunday, Parks Canada issued a Wildfire Advisory for Prince Albert National Park.
According to the alert, the Buhl Wildfire is currently 40 km from the townsite of Waskesiu.
Waskesiu Community Council chair Jim Kerby Chair said on Monday they are watching the situation closely, but conditions have improved.
“We have had a change in the smoke conditions over the last 24 hours this morning,” Kerby said. “It was actually kind of blue skies here. At the moment. I’d say that I can see about halfway across the lake. There’s certainly a fair bit of smoke in the air.
“I check and I see that the conditions are probably as bad in Saskatoon as they as they are here or worse,” he added.
The alert warned of a deteriorating situation on Sunday evening.
“The Buhl Wildfire has potential to cause emergency situations for the public, including deteriorating air quality and or visibility due to wildfire smoke,” the alert read.
This comes after a fire ban was announced earlier Sunday morning.
Residents and visitors in the area were asked to prepare and be ready to evacuate.
It also advised anyone who is able to leave the area to do so and asked the public to avoid travel to the area.
Kerby said the fire is still at the north east corner of the park and still about 35 to 40 kilometers away.
“At the moment there is no actual threat to life or property, but the town site has been put on a pre-evacuation notice and we basically are trying to make sure that people are aware of the situation and doing everything we can to make sure we got good communications,” Kerby said.
He also said there was a community meeting on Sunday where residents were advised that the Buhl Fire had entered the top portion of the park.
“We are expecting another update to come from Parks Canada Agency sometime today (Monday),” Kerby said. “We are trying to make sure that people sign up for the application on their Smartphones so saskalerts.ca and also we’re posting information and links to that on the Waskesiu.org website.”
Kerby said all of the community groups from the cottage owner, seasonal residents, Community Council and Chamber of Commerce are working together to make sure residents get information in a timely fashion.
For example, the marina sent an email that shared the latest information on the Buhl Fire.
“While there is no immediate threat to public safety, the fire remains active approximately 40 km north of the Waskesiu townsite, and heavy smoke is expected in the coming days, which may affect air quality and visibility for residents, visitors, and staff,” the email read.
The email also included updates on the area closure including Crean Lake, Kingsmere Wilderness Area, Heart Lakes, including the Hanging Hearts Marina, and surrounding regions. This closure was to ensure public safety and allow for emergency operations. It also updated on the Fire Ban and pre-evacuation alert.
He said that the groups are trying their best to let everyone know about the situation.
“I don’t sense panic because I don’t think that would be appropriate at the time,” Kerby said. “The bigger concern here as of yesterday and today was for infants, people that have breathing issues, that sort of thing. They’ve always got to be careful with smoke. That was the primary message. The secondary one is just it’s time to be prepared if something did happen where we had to evacuate the town site. We hope that’s not the case, (but) if it does happen, have things ready so that you can pack them up and off you go.”
Kerby said everything appeared relatively normal on the townsite. He was downtown a number of times and said people are still using the recreation areas and playing golf.
“I just think a lot of the Saskatchewan people this year in particular have had to live through smoky situations and it’s just something where you have got to pay attention to what’s going on,” he said.
“We’re very thankful for the extra assistance that’s already been provided to Parks Canada. There’s at least 20 members that have been brought in from outside the park as part of Parks Canada agency to work on this situation and help keep the people informed and safe.”
He was also keenly aware of what a difficult wildfire season this has already been.
“We know that the Saskatchewan government is working hard too to deal with a lot of situations that are going on. We’re just one of many, but this clearly is getting attention, and I think it is available to us to get good information in a timely way and I think we’re fortunate in that respect,” Kerby said.
The Buhl Fire is currently listed as not contained. It began on June 30 west of Weyakwin and listed at 35,000 hectares. The affected communities are Weyakwin, Resort subdivision of Ramsey Bay and Prince Albert National Park. The fire has led to the closure of Highway 916.
55 active wildfires in province as of Monday
According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) As of 11:00 am on Monday, July 14, there are 55 active wildfires in Saskatchewan. Of those active fires, four are categorized as contained, 12 are not contained, 21 are ongoing assessment and 18 are listed as protecting values.
This year, Saskatchewan has had 369 wildfires, which is above the five-year average of 260 to date.
Eight communities are currently under an evacuation order, these included the Resort Subdivision of Lac La Plonge, La Plonge Reserve, Northern Village of Beauval, Jans Bay, as well as priority individuals from Patuanak/English River First Nation, Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Northern Village of Pinehouse and Canoe Lake Cree First Nation.
Effective July 13 the community of Kinoosao is no longer under an evacuation order and will be repatriating on Monday.
There are approximately 1,700 evacuees in the province at this time, 1,200 of which are supported by the SPSA in hotels or staying with friends and family.