Firefighters and all essential staff were evacuated from the resort village of Denare Beach, Sask., as wildfire tore through the community destroying everything south of Ninth Avenue.
The few remaining volunteer firefighters and essential workers were told late Monday afternoon to leave the village, located on the shores of Amisk Lake in northern Saskatchewan, after intense wind conditions fuelled the Wolf Fire threatening the town and anyone left in it.
On Tuesday morning, the village confirmed that everything south of Ninth Avenue to the reserve was “devastated by fire.”
Cell and internet service is offline and phone lines are also down, according to a post on the village’s Facebook page.
The latest report from the village, which is home to about 699 people according to the latest Census in 2021, said the fire hall, administration building and Denareplex were still standing.
“We understand not receiving further information is frustrating, but please understand we feel as shocked, helpless as you all right now and are trying to navigate the situation as best we can remotely,” the Facebook post said.
The same post went on to confirm that members of the village’s fire department had escaped and were in Creighton about 19 kilometres away.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 20 active wildfires in the province, nine of which were not contained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.
About 8,000 people had been evacuated from northern Saskatchewan due to wildfires as of Monday.
Saskatchewan communities now under evacuation order or pre-evacuation alert:
Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
