A bathroom break in the bush resulted in a few tense hours on the fire line near La Ronge yesterday.
For nearly six hours, a search was underway for a missing member of the military.
A soldier felt the call of nature and the need for privacy so he retreated into the woods to relieve himself.
At a briefing at the emergency operations centre in Regina this morning, Brigadier General Wayne Eyre says the soldier got disoriented and could not find his way back to the group, instead walking in the opposite direction.
“I am happy to report he is uninjured except for his pride,” he says. “And a number of lessons have been learned from this, but thankfully it all turned out very positively.”
The soldier was missing for about six hours before searchers found him at about 8:30 last night.
Brigadier General Eyre says there will be a review of the situation to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
He says they may implement a buddy system or some other means so contact is not lost with any of the troops on the ground.
There currently is radio contact, but not every soldier carries a radio.
Eyre says it has been a tough, but rewarding mission for the hundreds of troops now in Saskatchewan.
“I went out there and talked to our troops. They were dirty, they were sweaty, they were smelly, but they had big smiles on their faces,” he says. “They are very happy to be here helping the people of Saskatchewan because this is what we do. Our first mission is to protect the people of Canada.”
The latest batch of soldiers to arrive are from CFB Shilo, Manitoba.
There are now about 600 soldiers on the fire lines with another 250 in support roles.
In addition, army reservists and paid volunteers are being added to the contingent battling the blazes.