About 700 people in a small hamlet in northern Saskatchewan are stranded Friday after a wildfire knocked out the only road into their community.
Patuanak, a hamlet about 425 kilometres north of Saskatoon and about 90 kilometres north of recently evacuated Beauval, Sask., is typically only accessible by road via Highway 918.
This week, the highway was cut off by a wildfire, preventing people from leaving, and blocking direct access to supplies and emergency crews.
“Essentially they are safe but they are cut off,” said Candyce Paul, emergency management co-ordinator for the English River First Nation, which Patuanak is a part of.
“They had lost power once as poles got burned, but SaskPower was quickly able to protect the road enough to restore the power.”
Speaking from the La Plonge reserve just outside Beauval, Paul said there isn’t any immediate danger to Patuanak from wildfires or heavy smoke. The nearest wildfire, she said, was still around 60 kilometres away.
“Medical services are all up there. There’s an airport up there. We have a team operating up there as well. Our emergency management team is making preparations for any scenario that comes up.”
Paul said essentials like pharmaceuticals have been brought in by air, while a team of nurses was able to travel to the community by boat.
Many community members with complex medical needs were able to leave before the road was cut off, Paul said, many of them taking refuge in Cold Lake, Alta.
“The ones that needed to be evacuated, they are 90 per cent out,” Paul said.
On Friday morning, the English River First Nation emergency management team announced that La Plonge had been fully evacuated.
Meanwhile, the Village of Beauval announced it had blocked the road into the community to prevent non-essential personnel from entering.
Traffic will still be allowed to exit the community, which is now more than 75 per cent evacuated.
The Village of Beauval also announced that the Travelodge in Saskatoon being used as a muster point is now full. Evacuees will be assigned to new hotels.
John Rediron, an evacuee from Beauval, told CBC News evacuees arrived in Saskatoon late Thursday.
“Everybody’s been helpful, you know, and they’ve been calling us and making sure everything’s OK,” Rediron said.
He and the other evacuees are trying to get as many updates from their community as they can, he said, but it’s not clear when they’ll be able to return home.
Canada Post, meanwhile, has issued red alerts for Beauval and Patuanak.
For Beauval, the post office is closed and incoming mail is being held securely off-site until further notice. The post office in Pataunak remains open but the wildfire has interrupted transportation of mail to the post office.
As of Friday afternoon, 63 wildfires remain active in the province, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency.
Of those, 17 are listed as not contained, 25 are under ongoing assessment, and 11 are listed as “protecting values” fires, meaning the fire is active and the focus is on protecting “values” such as cabins and infrastructure. The other 10 fires are considered contained.
So far this season, there have been 334 wildfires, which is well above the five-year average of 195 for this point, according to the safety agency.
More than $5.5 million has been distributed as part of the government of Saskatchewan’s $500 payments to evacuees 18 years of age and older, the agency said in a Friday update.
In addition to La Plonge reserve and Beauval, the resort subdivision of Lac La Plonge and Kinoosao also remain under evacuation orders, it said.
As of noon, the evacuation order for the northern settlement of Bear Creek had been lifted.
Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
