**UPDATE – (2:47 pm, Monday, June 8th) – Northern Municipal Services says a voluntary evacuation notice has been issued to those with chronic respiratory illnesses, expectant mothers and children under two years of age in the settlements of Brabant Lake, Missinipe and Stanley Mission, the resort subdivisions of Napatak and Wadin Bay and the subdivisions of Eagle Point, English Bay, Lamp Lake, Nemeiben and Potato Lake because of the poor air quality caused by the heavy smoke from forest fires. Evacuees are encouraged to register at the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre.
**UPDATE – (1:07 pm, Monday, June 8th) – There is still no threat from the fires to the communities of La Ronge and Air Ronge, but local health officials are now applying an evacuation order to all elders, those with chronic respiratory illnesses, expectant mothers and children under two years old. Residents in those groups are being urged to head to the Jonas Roberts Memorial Community Centre to register.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes, structures have been lost, and there are major air quality concerns in northern Saskatchewan today following a rash of forest fires in the La Ronge area.
States of emergency have been declared in La Ronge, Air Ronge, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and Sucker River.
Environment officials are doing their best to contain the fires, but the weather is not co-operating.
Forty-nine blazes were sparked by lightning over the weekend, more are expected today. For the old, the frail and the very young, they have been told to leave until air quality improves. That type of evacuation was extended to Stanley Mission and Sucker River earlier today. Fires are not an “immediate threat” to Sucker River or Hall Lake, although residents in Sucker River are being told to remain on standby in case an evacuation order comes. There is no direct risk from the fires to Stanley Mission.
The evacuation order was mandatory for the communities of Sikachu and Clam Lake.
The province’s director of of wildfire management, Steve Roberts, says about 30 of the fires are at high risk. He says some of them are extremely dangerous.
“Yesterday, in one of the situations where our crews were fighting the fire, we actually pulled the crew out because of the volatile situation,” he says. “We will not engage our crews or put them at risk when it is unsafe to do so.”
There are reports of structures being lost, including as many as 10 cabins on Nemeiben Lake. Roberts says more structures could be lost although no major communities are being threatened.
So far, more than 700 people have been evacuated from their homes. Four hundred of them are being housed in Saskatoon, 175 in Prince Albert and 140 members of the Clearwater River Dene Nation are staying with family or friends because of a fire burning near La Loche.
The Social Services ministry is coordinating the evacuations. Spokesperson Deanna Wysoskey says the ministry is prepared if the evacuation order expands.
“If additional people need to leave their homes, we will be opening up another facility in Prince Albert,” she says. “We will also be looking at what else we can do in terms of further hotel accommodation in Prince Albert and Saskatoon.”
In La Ronge, the biggest problem is air quality. A lot of people have left on their own. Garnet Matchett with Saskatchewan Health says the ministry is considering moving some patients out of the hospital.
“There are some issues of air quality actually at the hospital,” he says. “And we are looking at the potential of moving some of those folks out of the hospital to other health authorities.”
The forecast for today is hot and windy with a good chance of more thunderstorms and lightning strikes. This could make a bad situation even worse.