Sask. Crown Corporations working to deal with wildfire damage

As firefighting crews do what they can to protect homes, cabins, and communities as massive fires continue to tear through the north of Saskatchewan this week, the province’s crown corporations are attempting to keep things operating amidst the war against the flames.

Scott McGregor, spokesperson for SaskPower,  said that there are two areas in particular where they’re seeing the biggest loss of infrastructure.

Read more:

• Sask. government doubles household financial assistance for wildfire evacuees
• Rain, favourable winds in Candle Lake, Shoe Fire still 11 km away
• Saskatchewan wildfires update: No new reported fires in 24 hours, SPSA

“We are seeing the majority of damage to SaskPower infrastructure in the Creighton area, as well as the La Ronge area,” he said.

SaskPower says that it’s mainly dealing with power poles and transmission structures, with around 175 being either damaged or destroyed.

According to McGregor, an accurate damage assessment will have to wait until conditions can improve enough for crews to safely access those areas.

McGregor was unable to provide an estimate as to when the damage would be repaired.

“It’s really hard to say at this time, just because we don’t have a full picture of what the scope of the damage is or what it’s going to look like.”

“Plus, up there you have a lot of different types of terrain — some easier to work in than others — so we won’t really have a clear picture of how long it’ll take to fix everything until we’re able to even see how much has been damaged,” he said.

SaskEnergy is also working on managing its systems in the north.

In a statement, the natural gas provider said its crews were focused on maintaining services in La Ronge.

“At this time, natural gas service to La Ronge is being maintained and closely monitored by field staff. This decision has been made in close coordination with emergency management authorities and local officials.

“Maintaining service ensures that critical infrastructure and emergency services can continue to operate safely and reliably as natural gas is being used as a backstop for power generation in the community.

“Our operations team is actively monitoring the situation and is prepared to respond quickly if conditions change. We are conducting regular risk assessments to maintain the safety of our infrastructure and, most importantly, the safety of the community,” the SaskEnergy statement said.

While most of SaskEnergy’s infrastructure is underground and safe from the flames, there has been some damage, with some equipment loss due to structure fires.

“In La Ronge specifically, SaskEnergy has responded to six structure fires. In these cases, SaskEnergy infrastructure, such as meters and risers, have been damaged,” SaskEnergy wrote.

Communication is another service that is experiencing problems.

Many northern communities have been seeing issues with their internet, as well as wireless and landline phone services.

SaskTel said they haven’t lost any significant equipment so far, like buildings or towers but what they have been seeing are issues on a much smaller scale in the form of burned cables.

In a statement, SaskTel said there are a few areas that have been the cause for concern.

“Damage has occurred in several locations, but the section causing the greatest impact to SaskTel’s services has been between La Ronge and Sucker Lake, where the fires have damaged several areas over a number of days,” SaskTel said in a statement, adding that repairs have been continuous amidst this year’s fire season.

“Repairs being made are a combination of permanent and temporary measures with a focus on getting services back up to the impacted areas,” the statement said, and once conditions improve, they will begin permanent fixes.

“Crews have restored services to parts of northern Saskatchewan, including Pelican Narrows, Jan Lake, Denare Beach, McLennan Lake, Brabant Lake, Deschambault Lake, Southend, Wollaston Lake, Stony Rapids, and Fond-du-Lac.”

Read more:

• Sask. government doubles household financial assistance for wildfire evacuees
• Rain, favourable winds in Candle Lake, Shoe Fire still 11 km away
• Saskatchewan wildfires update: No new reported fires in 24 hours, SPSA