Two wildfires west of Buffalo Narrows are uncontained and described by the Saskatoon Public Safety Agency as burning aggressively. The communities of Dillon, Saint George’s Hill and Michel Village have been evacuated, along with 95 people from Buffalo Narrows who are Elders or who have chronic medical conditions.
They were transported to Lloydminster. The Vermette Fire is located southwest of Dillon while the Shaw Fire is southeast of that community. Each fire has burned about 26,000 hectares a piece, which works out to a total combined 125-thousand acres.
The Executive Director of Land Operations with the SPSA, Bryan Chartrand says the fires are uncontained. Because of the fire intensity and the heavy smoke, fire crews are doing indirect attacks, with dozers on site and planes dropping fire retardant lines. About 120 firefighters are working on the two fires.
Peter Boniface with the SPSA, says the wildfire numbers are way above normal. So far this year, there have been 162 fires, which is more than double the five-year average of 77. As of 5:30 p.m. on Monday there were 33 wildfires in the province and seven were not contained
There is an air quality alert for much of northern Saskatchewan from the wildfires in this province as well as in Alberta. Smoke from wildfires is causing poor air quality and reduced visibility from the Alberta border to the Manitoba border.
Photo credit: Photo posted to La Loche Wildfire Update
SaskPower reports that 2,500 people are without power in Buffalo Narrows, Ile a la Crosse, Dillon and as far north as La Loche.
Spokesperson for the Crown Corporation, Scott McGregor says about 2 kilometres of transmission line that feeds several communities in the area was burned. At the earliest, the power will be back at some point on Tuesday.
Crews are on site to assess the damage and start the repairs, provided conditions are safe. McGregor adds that for anyone in the area who comes across a downed power line or damaged power poles that look like they are about to break, stay back at least ten metres and give SaskPower a call or call 911 and a crew will be sent in as soon as possible to make the area safe.
The widespread power outage continues for Dillon, La Loche, Buffalo River, St. Georges Hill, Michel Village, Buffalo Narrows, Isle-a-la Crosse, and surrounding rural areas. About 2,500 people are without power while wildfires burn in northern Saskatchewan. SaskPower spokesperson, Scott McGregor says they were alerted at 3:15 on Sunday about the outage. He explains that the fire burned underneath about 2 kilometres of transmission that feeds several communities in that area. Due to the nature of the conditions which are always changing, he has no estimate as to when the power will be back on but crews are on site to assess the damage and start the repairs, provided the conditions are still safe. It’s not expected power will be restored until Tuesday or later.
McGregor adds that for anyone in the area who comes across a downed power line or damaged power poles that look like they are about to break, stay back at least ten metres and give SaskPower a call or call 911 and a crew will be sent in as soon as possible to make the area safe.
map of power outage:
In a separate fire, The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency is asking paddlers to avoid the area on and near the Montreal River, north of Highway 2 and Junction 165, because there is a forest fire nearby. The SPSA explains that if a rescue were needed, it would pull personnel and resources from the wildfire response.
