Murray Wood: Who's scary... and who's scary good?
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week, in a specia...
The prayers of many have been answered as rain fell in the Candle Lake area Saturday.
The precipitation comes at a crucial time as the largest fire burning in the province, the Shoe Fire, is currently only 11 km away from the resort village.
As of Saturday morning, the Shoe Fire had burned more than 496,695 hectares, or around 1,227,360 acres of land — more than the size of the whole of Prince Albert National Park — and is considered not contained.
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According to Brent Lutz, chief administrative officer for the resort village, the good news doesn’t stop at just rain.
“It was reported to us last night that the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) … (said) there were no major gains yesterday — and with the rain today, they’re hopeful that they will be able to move forward even further in trying to contain the fire,” he said.
“We hope it rains throughout the day.”
As of Saturday morning, winds in the area were also blowing in a favourable direction.
“The winds are still in opposition to the fire, and so it’s not moving our way right now,” Lutz explained. “This gives additional time for SPSA to be able to contain this fire before it threatens our community.”
Lutz said work continues to be done on creating fire breaks to protect the village. At the end of May, Prince Albert Carlton MLA Eric Schmalz said 13 dozers were working to get the job done quickly.
Two bulldozers sit in the ditch along Highway 120 to construct the Candle Lake firebreak on May 29, 2025. (Roman Hayter/980 CJME)
Within the community, Lutz said firefighters have begun “FireSmart” activities.
“We’re moving gas cans, propane tanks, firewood and outdoor furnishings a distance from all the structures in the community, and they’ve been working hard at that as well,” he said.
While the community isn’t under a mandatory evacuation order, but it has declared a state of emergency and hopes the roughly 300 remaining people in the village will voluntarily evacuate.
“If people have left the lake, we’re encouraging them not to come back. We are taking steps to protect their property for them,” he said.
He also advises people not to try and defend their property against the fire and to leave this work to the fire crews.
Wildfire teams are working side-by-side with the Candle Lake Fire Department to FireSmart properties by clearing brush, trimming branches, and reducing fuel loads. (Resort Village of Candle Lake/Facebook)
The resort village has also requested 100 trained firefighters to assist with the FireSmart activities. There is already a wildfire response team working on some properties on behalf of private insurance companies.
Lutz said this request hasn’t directly been answered, but he understands that other communities are in need too.
“We currently have our fire department, our Public Works team and there is a private property protection company that’s here, trained in firefighting, that has been assisting us,” he said.
He encourages any volunteer firefighters who haven’t reached out to SPSA to provide assistance to do so. Accommodations and food are covered for trained firefighters who want to help in Candle Lake.
According to a public notice issued by the resort village, the fire could reach the community in the next three to 10 days.
— with files from paNOW
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