Fire east of Prince Albert expanding rapidly

SASKATOON A wildfire almost twice the area of Saskatoon shows little indication of slowing down or being brought under control.

The English fire, which started May 8 east of Prince Albert near Fort à la Corne forest, grew from 5,300 hectares on Friday to 37,500 hectares by Tuesday. That size makes the fire 1.7 times larger than the area of Saskatoon and 5.8 times larger than the area of P.A. The blaze is encroaching on nearby farmland and posing a serious threat.

“The fire is currently not contained,” said Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency acting vice-president Steve Roberts on Tuesday.

The cause of the English fire — named after a nearby historic site called the English Cabin — “is human,” Roberts said.

According to a Facebook post by Chris Lafaver, who lives in Meath Park, people in the area are “fighting it but the winds have been terrible and the fire is spread out ... It’s dry. It has made it to farm land and most are focused on saving farm yards that most are still occupied.”

Madison Whitley, whose photos from around Smeaton were widely seen and shared, said in a Facebook post that she “got pretty deep, to the point where it was hard to breathe.”

The forest type, Roberts said, is mature or over-mature, with large amounts of dead material.

“There has been no appreciable fire activity in there for decades. There is lots of available fuel burning in the spring … and we have heavy loads of tall grasses and brush material as well to carry the fire,” he said. “It’s much like a grass fire on a larger scale.”

James Smith Cree Nation temporarily evacuated vulnerable community members due to heavy smoke. The province issued advisory alerts for the RMS of Garden River and Torch River. Smoke hung in the air around Smeaton, Snowden, Shipman, Meath Park and Weirdale. Ash and embers fell across Torch River and Nipawin. The RMS of Prince Albert, Torchwood, Nipawin and Duck Lake, as well as La Ronge and Air Ronge, implemented fire bans.

SPSA staff fighting the fire include an incident command team, an aerial ignitions specialist team and government firefighters. Around 45 firefighters from four First Nations are on scene, along with six helicopters, four planes designed to drop retardant, 11 bulldozers and heavy equipment, nine crew trucks and a water bomber redeployed from La Ronge.

Roberts said crews are aware of distancing restrictions due to COVID-19, and that there are “certain provisions that prevent us from bringing in large numbers of folks and camping them.”

There is no estimate for when the fire will be considered contained. Officials are hopeful that a weather system on Wednesday and Thursday will bring heavy rain to the area.