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No homes in the northern Saskatchewan village of Beauval have been lost, even as the Muskeg Fire continues to burn nearby.
That’s in part thanks to the work of volunteer fire departments who were called in by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) to help protect buildings in the community.
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“We had the training and we had extra resources, and we have a large enough department that we could send the crew up and help,” Davidson Fire Department Fire Chief Cory Dean said, when explaining why his team made the more than 500-kilometre trek up north with a fire engine.
From left, Davidson Fire Department Fire Chief Cory Dean, Lieutenant Kristen Sampson from Davidson Fire, firefighter Joni Hofer from the RM of Swift Current Fire Department, and firefighter Dylan Payne from Davidson Fire arrived in Beauval on July 2. (Cory Dean/Davidson Fire Department)
Ten volunteer fire departments were called in, from Davidson, Warman, Dalmeny, Melfort, RM of Blutcher, Oxbow, St Brieux, Weyburn, Lakeland, and Carlyle.
“We’re kind of like one big family, where if a call is put out for help and we have the resources and the manpower we will send help — because we never know when we may be asking for assistance,” Carlyle Fire and Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Rob Klassen said.
He and three other Carlyle volunteers arrived in Beauval on July 3, driving around 850 kilometres and more than 10 hours to get there.
Davidson Fire Chief Cory Dean said that all 10 departments worked on finding and extinguishing “spot fires” before they could spread through the community in Beauval. (Cory Dean/Davidson Fire Department)
‘This fire was making its own weather’
Once volunteer crews arrived, Dean said they got to work setting up fire guards, or “cut lines”, meant to steer the fire away from the community.
But the flames eventually jumped the lines, officially entering Beauval on July 10.
“It came into the community at what they call a level six, which is one of the highest ratings on a wildfire in severity of how large it is and how fast it’s moving,” Dean said.
Klassen said it was unlike anything he’d ever seen in his 23 years a firefighter, saying grass fires don’t have flames shooting 60 feet into the air.
For the experienced firefighter, this blaze was like “walking into the abyss.”
“This fire was making its own weather,” he said, describing how the sun completely disappeared at 5:30 p.m., making it so dark with smoke that he couldn’t see the front of his truck.
Dean had a similar experience, saying he’d never been up against a fire of that severity.
“We’ve dealt with wildfires in the southern part of the province, which are fast moving as well. We’ve been in some pretty serious situations … but that was our first real taste of what a wildfire in the forest is,” Dean said. “It’s a lot larger, a lot more intense.”
To fight such an intense blaze, Dean said he relied on his training.
“Your nerves are high, the intensity is high, but you’re trained to go through the motions, and you rely on your training and your knowledge and your team,” Dean said.
That team extended beyond just the people Dean travelled with to Beauval.
Many different crews, including SPSA members, came together to protect the community — with a group of women cooking three meals a day for them.
Dean said the crews soon got to know one another and rely on each other’s skills.
“It was like we’d worked together for 20 years,” Klassen said, adding that despite the intensity of the blaze, only one building burned down — a canteen across the highway at the baseball diamond — and no homes or buildings were lost in Beauval.
Davidson Fire Chief Cory Dean said the volunteer firefighters from small communities came out to help in Beauval because “that’s what we do.” (Rob Klassen/Carlyle Fire and Rescue)
Dean returned to Davidson yesterday, but said he could see things smouldering around the community on his drive back.
“It’s kind of humbling, I guess you could say, to drive through that burn area and know that there were no houses lost, knowing that the people that are from that community are going to get a chance to go back home at some point.”
With the Muskeg Fire still listed as “not contained” on the SPSA’s website, there’s no word yet on when people from Beauval might be able to return.
But, as of July 14, they all have homes to return to.
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