More people may need to flee their homes in Saskatchewan on Sunday, as quickly moving fires threaten more communities.
“We evacuated Sturgeon Landing and maybe another community today,” Premier Scott Moe told CBC’s Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday morning.
“We still do have room in hotels across the province, but those are filling as we go through the days without a change in weather — so it’s going to have to be support and all hands on deck working closely with communities,” he said.
Sturgeon Landing is part of Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, in the province’s northeast.
Sask. premier says resources are stretched as wildfires rage
The Northern Hamlet of Timber Bay issued an alert Sunday morning that residents must begin evacuating immediately.
A nearby wildfire is fast-moving and threatening the community, the alert said. The community is on the east shore of Montreal Lake, north of Prince Albert.
It advised people to self-evacuate using highways 969 and 2, and to go to the Meridian Inn and Suites in Regina. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency “will be there to welcome you,” the alert said.
Montreal Lake Cree Nation has declared a pre-evacuation notice for people in Molanosa, a small, isolated community about 150 kilometres north of Prince Albert.
The First Nation said the alert is due to high winds from the west that were expected to cause heavy smoke and possibly push a wildfire in the region closer to Molanosa. The Ditch02 fire is burning west of Molanosa.
Any community member who chooses to leave at this point is urged to go to the Montreal Lake Child and Family Services building, the designated meeting point and command centre. The band said evacuees have to go there to receive services.
Geoffrey Bird from Montreal Lake Cree Nation was part of the volunteer firefighting team that stayed back in the community in 2015 when a wildfire forced thousands to flee for a long time.
It’s déjà vu for him as he waits for orders from the authorities. “My cabins burned down on East Road,” he said.
“That’s towards Candle Lake.…That’s where my mom had built a cabin, and I inherited that cabin. I haven’t gone to see it yet,” he said.
Bird said that no one is allowed to go to that area right now as it is too dangerous.
Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
