The fire near Birch Portage area shown on August 17. Provided by Reynold Sewap.
A number of forest fires in northeast Saskatchewan have forced an evacuation of 17 people from the settlement of Birch Portage, and has Pelican Narrows monitoring smoke conditions for possible health priority evacuations.
The province confirmed on Friday afternoon that the entire tiny settlement of Birch Portage, about 70 kilometres south-east of Pelican Narrows, was evacuated due to an out-of-control forest fire that was at one point within one kilometre of the community.
The evacuation decision was made on Thursday night in consultation with Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation, Wildfire Management, Emergency Social Services, and Red Cross who are providing accommodations in Prince Albert for the evacuees.
PBCN Chief Peter Beatty says the transport van had to come from Pelican Narrows so it took until the morning to get people moving out of the community.
Meanwhile, there are four fires around Pelican Narrows contributing to smoky conditions that are also being monitored by the band and by Wildfire Management – and Steve Roberts with Wildfire Management says the Granite Fire that has forced the Birch Portage evacuation is within 16 kilometres of Pelican Narrows as of Friday afternoon. Beatty said there is no current concern about the fire nearing Pelican Narrows, instead they are focused on making sure those with health conditions are safe from the haze in the region.
“More than likely what’s going to happen is it’s going to be done on a case-by-case basis based on what the health professionals decide to do with an individual,” he said, adding that the Pelican Narrows school has a system that provides clean air throughout the building, and people can go there if they need a break from the smoke.
“We make our decisions on a daily basis so it’s an evolving situation. It could alleviate, if we were to get enough rain then things would calm down obviously. And we did have a bit this morning so it cooled everything off and the air was good in Pelican this morning.”
Roberts says there is a direct risk to infrastructure at Birch Portage at this time, but added that the northeast is currently the only region in the province with significant wildfire activity. This means “almost all the provincial resources are dedicated to that area,” with firefighters from the south, Prince Albert, La Ronge, and Flin Flon regions currently working to tame the flames. Helicopters, air tankers, sprinklers, and two separate command operations are also in action in the region.
Two of the four fires burning around Pelican Narrows are considered contained at this time, while the Granite Fire and Wilkins Fire are out of control. Roberts said a number of the current fires have been determined to be human-caused, which is leading Chief Beatty to urge residents and children to not play with fire or light fires.
There is no expectation of a significant rainfall within the next week, and Roberts said that will mean smoke should be sticking around in the Pelican Narrows and Deschambault Lake regions.
“We’d be fully managing these with the idea that we’re going to have to work on them without support from Mother Nature for probably a week or so before we’ll see any substantive reprieve,” Roberts said.
Birch Portage fire described as ‘volatile’
On Friday, firefighters got a bit of a break with a little rain, but the situation near Birch Portage remains volatile and unpredictable.
The fire is known as the Granite Fire, which is now about 250 square kilometres in size. Less than 10 per cent of it is contained, and on Thursday it burned to within one kilometer of Birch Portage before turning and burning about three kilometres away from the community in less than a half an hour.
Brent Zbaraschuk with wildfire management says it is tough to get a handle on the fire because of the quickly changing conditions.
“The fire behaviors got up into the crowns very quickly and once it gets into the crowns of the trees it creates its own weather also,” he said. “And with those 40 km/hr winds it pushes that fire in multiple directions.”
Zbaraschuk says the fire still poses a threat to Birch Portage so the recommendation was given for the evacuation.
“Well just with the winds and the projected weather over the next few days it does pose a threat to the little settlement,” he said.
The Environment Canada 48-hour smoke intensity forecast as of Aug. 25, 2017.