Sarah Mills: Early wildfire season raises questions about prevention
Wildfires have forced thousands of people in Saskatchewan to leave their homes, and the summer hasn't even started yet. ...
PRINCE ALBERT — Saskatchewan declared a provincewide state of emergency Thursday in its fight against rampaging wildfires that have forced thousands to flee.
The declaration by Premier Scott Moe came one day after his Manitoba counterpart Wab Kinew did the same.
“It’s a very serious situation that we’re faced with,” Moe told a news conference in Prince Albert.
“We do need some rainfall. We need that sooner rather than later, and in light of that not being in the forecast, we most certainly are putting in place every measure possible to prepare the province.”
The emergency declaration makes it easier for different levels of government to battle the fires, which have forced more than 4,000 residents from their homes, mainly in Saskatchewan’s remote northeast region.
The declaration is set for 30 days but can be extended.
Moe said he has not asked the federal government for assistance but may do so in the days ahead.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Eleanor Olszewski, on social media, said she was monitoring the fires and planned to meet with Saskatchewan Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod.
The hardest-hit area is in Pelican Narrows near the Manitoba boundary, where more than 2,000 residents have been forced to flee.
In Manitoba, Kinew made the emergency declaration as fires forced 17,000 people to escape to safety, including all 5,000 residents of the city of Flin Flon. The rest are coming from remote western and northern regions, including First Nations.
Kinew has asked the federal government for help from the military and Prime Minister Mark Carney said they will assist.
Olszewski said in a statement Thursday evening that she had approved two requests for federal assistance from the Manitoba government to support evacuation efforts in wake of fires threatening Pimicikamak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.
“The government operations centre is working with the Canadian Armed Forces, and other federal and provincial partners, to deploy all necessary federal resources, and ensure Manitoba has the supports it needs,” she said.
Manitoba is getting whipsawed in fighting the fire, battling not only the flames but also in finding a place for evacuees to go. Kinew has said hotels are already filled with other evacuees and conventiongoers.
Winnipeg has opened recreation centres to house evacuees. Early Thursday, there was little to no visible foot traffic at the main evacuation hub at the Billy Mosienko Arena. Security kept media away.
One evacuee, Rob Burroughs, said he arrived in the Manitoba capital after a 12-hour drive along a dark highway jammed with cars and trucks from Flin Flon.
On a normal day, the drive usually takes seven hours.
“We could see (the fire) very well,” Burroughs said in an interview. “The wind was in our favour … but then we were told that the wind was going to change on Wednesday, and it did.
“We could see (the fire) perfectly. Red (skies) and lots of black smoke.”
He said it was a frantic dash to safety.
“Some of the residents, like my kids, live right off the perimeter, which is only one and a half kilometres from the fire,” Burroughs said. “(First responders) were going door to door, telling them to get out.”
The other major evacuation locale was 6,700 or so residents of the Pimicikamak Cree Nation. Another 1,700 or so are out from Mathias Colomb Cree Nation.
Pimicikamak Chief David Monias told reporters he was expecting better and quicker help from government as his community faced major issues getting to safety.
“By the time they sent the planes, only two of the three could land, because the smoke was pretty bad,” Monias said.
He added that people were also sent south by car to Norway House Cree Nation, where a bottlenecked ferry system left some people waiting up for nine hours without food or other essentials.
“Lives are at stake,” he said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Kyra Wilson, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, also said the resources made available to evacuating First Nation communities have been severely lacking.
“There should be no delays. There should be no wait times on any request for emergency services,” Wilson said.
Moe said Saskatchewan is working with Manitoba to fight the fires and offer support to evacuees.
“We are in this together,” he said.
Flin Flon had to be evacuated under threat of a fire that started Monday over the boundary in Saskatchewan near the town of Creighton.
The 1,200 or so residents of Creighton and nearby Denare Beach are also out.
That fire is now at 20 square kilometres, menacing both Flin Flon and Creighton from the north. Crews struggled early on to fight the blaze after a drone flew into the fire zone, forcing water bombers to stand down.
Federal rules allow for fines and jail terms for anyone flying a drone within nine kilometres of a wildfire without permission.
In Creighton, Mayor Bruce Fidler said nearly all of the residents have left. Most are heading south to Nipawin.
“We do have a few people here that we need, our essential workers and firefighters,” he said. “The fire is still threatening the communities, but they’re holding it steady.”
Also Thursday, three Saskatchewan First Nations called for extra resources to fight the fires.
The Lac La Ronge Indian Band, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and Montreal Lake Cree Nation say the fires are boxing in communities and they need help.
Fires were also forcing people out of their homes in Alberta.
Dene Tha First Nation, in the northwest corner of Alberta, issued an evacuation order Thursday evening for the community of Chateh.
Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza said a fire was burning about 10 kilometres away and the community’s 900 residents were to register in Bushe River, near High Level.
The chief said the main road near Chateh — Highway 58 — was closed and residents were forced to use back roads to leave.
The 1,300 residents of Swan Hills, northwest of Edmonton, were ordered earlier this week to leave ahead of an advancing, wind-whipped fire, estimated to have grown to 71 square kilometres in size.
Late Wednesday, a mandatory evacuation was issued for Chipewyan Lake, west of Fort McMurray. Not far away, those living in Red Earth Creek have been ordered to leave, as have residents in Loon Lake, Peerless Lake and Trout Lake.
On social media, Premier Danielle Smith said her thoughts are with those who have had to flee.
— By Jeremy Simes in Regina, with files from Steve Lambert in Winnipeg, Wolfgang Depner in Victoria, and Aaron Sousa and Jack Farrell in Edmonton.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 29, 2025.
The Canadian Press
