More areas in northern Saskatchewan are bracing for worsening wildfire threats, including Prince Albert National Park and Montreal Lake Cree Nation.
On Sunday, Parks Canada issued a wildfire emergency advisory alert for the national park, as the Buhl fire is threatening the region. The fire is about 40 kilometres from the Waskesiu townsite, and could impact air quality and visibility due to smoke.
Officials are advising visitors to avoid travel to the park and for those already in the area to prepare for a possible evacuation.
Just west of the park, Montreal Lake Cree Nation issued a pre-evacuation order on Sunday due to the same fire.
“We don’t want to alarm people,” said vice chief Dean Henderson. “We did put that notification out in case we do [evacuate], to have your medications, your identifications or change of clothes — have those type things ready.”
The pre-evacuation notice applies to elders, young people and those with chronic illnesses, who are being moved to North Battleford.
Henderson said wildfire officials are closely monitoring the fire’s movement and that a decision on a full evacuation could be made soon.
“We just finished meeting with fire management,” Henderson said on Monday morning. “He’s going to put a line on our map and say if the fire hits this point, then you guys should start organizing your full evacuation.”
Meanwhile, the mayor of Beauval, Sask., said the village is nearly surrounded by wildfire, as the massive Muskeg fire continues to burn out of control on three sides of the northern community, about 340 kilometres north of Saskatoon.
“This fire is all around La Plonge Lake and all the way into Beauval,” Mayor Rick Laliberte said on Saturday. “It’s not in control. We’re defending Beauval and all the properties.”
Laliberte said multiple instances of lightning have caused wildfires across the region, including at South Bay, Dore Lake and near the community of Jans Bay.
“Well, those fires all became one. This is now Muskeg fire, and it goes all the way up to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse and towards Patuanak,” he said.
Laliberte said the community is now surrounded, with flare-ups still occurring in the forest nearby.
“We’re not knocking down this fire,” he said. “And rain is the only way that we can beat it.”
Laliberte said that conditions remain dangerous and unpredictable, especially with shifting winds.
“This is a relentless wind that we’ve been having and it’s been changing direction. The fire moves east, the fire moves north, the fire moves south. It’s just a moving fire. And that’s how these fires all join.”
The fire came close to Beauval last week, prompting a mandatory evacuation and a massive effort to protect the community.
“We woke up a giant somehow. That wind shifted at the right time to attack us and almost caught us off guard,” Laliberte said.
Laliberte said hotspots continue to flare up in areas around the village, and firefighters from Quebec have been attacking the fire, working alongside bulldozer crews and helicopters dropping buckets of water from the air.
“It was a monster that came through, and it’s tinder dry out there,” he said.
As of Sunday afternoon, no homes had been lost in the community. Laliberte credited the work of firefighters and outside support for saving homes.
As of Monday at 3 p.m CST, there were 55 wildfires burning across the province, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. Just four were listed as contained.
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