STONY RAPIDS, Sask. - Fire officials in Saskatchewan have now either evacuated or are planning to evacuate more than 1,100 residents due to forest fires in the province.
Around 130 people have already left their homes and another 40 are expected to do so in Black Lake, about 30 kilometres east of where a fire has already forced more than 200 from their homes in Stony Rapids near the province's northern boundary.
Cathy Bulych, director programs for support services, said it's actually difficult to tell exactly how many people across the province have been evacuated thus far.
"The approximate number is 1,145," Bulych said. "But some of them are in the air so I can't say they've all been fully evacuated yet."
That number consists of evacuees from Stony Rapids, Black Lake, and Uranium City in the province's far north, as well as Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay in the northeast.
Buses were en route Tuesday to Pelican Narrows where they were expected to pick up between 300 and 350 people and take them to Saskatoon. An additional 150 people were being moved from Sandy Bay, about 70 kilometres northeast of Pelican Narrows.
Neither community is in direct danger, but heavy smoke is blanketing each due to another fire moving east. The fire has jumped the highway connecting the two communities several times and the government has shut it down periodically due to flames or visibility concerns.
Plans were also in the works to evacuate residents in Deschambault Lake, southwest of Pelican Narrows.
Alvin Reimer with Saskatchewan Environment said there are approximately 400 personnel fighting the fires, including 31 helicopters and 14 tanker aircraft.
As well, Saskatchewan fire crews have been getting help from the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, and Ontario.
"We're actively looking for additional personnel through our national mutual aid sharing agreement," Reimer said.
Richard Kent with the Prince Albert Grand Council pointed out for the most part those leaving their communities have been urged to do so by local health officials
"We have elders, we have prenatals, we have people with medical problems that the health nurses in the community have identified as people who should leave the community," said Kent.
He said the council is working with emergency services organizations to help in the evacuations of many of these northern communities. Kent couldn't say when some of the residents would be able to return, saying the first priority are the mass efforts to get people out.
"We'll start looking at a return to the community when our field experts give us advice that it might be safe to do so," he said.
Reimer said emergency crews are actively dealing with 10 to 20 smaller fires per day. One of the most threatening fires near Stony Rapids got to within two kilometres of the town on the weekend, but it has slowed some Tuesday.
"Our success on initial attack in the full response zone has been quite good to this point in time," said Reimer. "But obviously we do have a number of fires in and around communities that are causing some concern."
