After as many as 32 days away, residents of Beauval, Sask., can go home on Wednesday.
The northern village plans to lift its mandatory evacuation order on July 30, just over a month after wildfires forced residents from their homes in the community about 340 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
“It’s a date we’ve been waiting for, for a long time,” Beauval Mayor Rick Laliberte told The 306’s Peter Mills.
Beauval began evacuating on June 28 with a voluntary order. Then the Muskeg fire surrounded the community on July 10, forcing the remaining residents to leave. The fire was a Category 6 by the time it reached Beauval, rolling on the treetops, travelling with the wind and moving 10 to 15 kilometres in half a day, Laiberte said.
Flames moved in just as the last bus of evacuees left the village. Some residents were sent as far south as Moose Jaw.
The community said buses would be arranged to transport evacuees on Wednesday. Beauval’s local state of emergency is expected to stay in effect until Aug. 6. Priority 1 and 2 people, including elders, children and those with medical conditions, will remain away from the community, according to Laliberte.
He thanked the SPSA for making the evacuation process “as smooth as possible,” and all the community volunteers in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw and Prince Albert for co-ordinating activities and keeping people’s minds off the threat.
“[The fires] did ravage our community, but we survived,” Laliberte said, adding that no home or “building of significance” was lost.
Laliberte stayed behind to help with the firefighting, calling it a “harrowing experience.” He was recently honoured with a fire bear medallion for his efforts.
Laliberte said the area has had four years of drought.
“The threat is not over,” he said.
There are still fires near Beauval, including near Pine House, La Loche and English River First Nation, he said.
But the immediate area around the community, which was intentionally backburned for fire control, is stable enough to begin allowing residents home, Laliberte said.
“Since it’s burnt here already, we don’t expect another fire coming back into us,” he said.
There is a green area to the east, near the La Plonge resort community, with virgin timber that could be a threat if a Category 5 or higher fire reaches it, Laliberte said, but Beauval itself is separated by a river.
“That river is kind of our buffer from that danger,” Laliberte said. “Our northern community of Beauval, Sakamayack subdivision and the Beauval Forks, we’re feeling confident and that’s why this decision was made by the village council.”
Laliberte said members of the Canadian Armed Forces arrived in Beauval on Monday evening to help with fire mop-up operations.
There’s a sense of security having those boots on the ground because the fire is so huge — 3,000 square kilometres, Laliberte said.
Other firefighting personnel from all over the world, including Mexico and Australia, are also currently in the northern village.
