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Hot and dry weather conditions forecast for Prince Albert National Park in the next few days means those people fighting the Buhl Fire, which has entered the park, will not see “any significant relief” in the area soon.
“We’re not expecting strong winds, which is a very good thing, but we’re expecting a little bit of wind activity and some further spread to the south and potentially to the west,” Greg Walker, Parks Canada incident commander for the blaze, said at a media briefing on Tuesday.
He said the fire is not close enough yet to put Waskesiu on evacuation alert but it is possible there could be an evacuation “in the future.”
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The Buhl Fire is nearly 34,000 ha (nearly 84,016 acres) in size, of which 6,200 ha (over 15,320 acres) are within the boundary of the park, he said.
Walker said the blaze is being managed by a Parks Canada team, alongside Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), with 29 personnel, three helicopters and heavy equipment all involved in the firefighting effort.
He said suppression efforts are focused on the south and east edges of the fire, before reminding park users that there’s a fire ban in place in the area and an evacuation pre-alert notice for Waskesiu.
That alert recommends visitors avoid travelling to the summer hotspot.
Walker said that issuing the evacuation pre-alert notice was “a very difficult decision”.
“Evacuations are complicated and can take some time. We want to make sure people aren’t under a great deal of duress while doing it,” he explained.
Walker said that there is no specific distance threshold that Parks Canada uses to decide when to issue an evacuation alert for any particular area.
The Shack manager Marie Archer says Waskesiu is a little hazy and quieter than usual, but her stress level on the current wildfire threat is ‘quite low.’ (Marie Archer/submitted)
‘Slower days’ for Waskesiu business
It’s not quite business as usual in Waskesiu, following Sunday’s pre-evacuation alert.
While it hasn’t completely stopped tourism in Waskesiu, the impacts of the alert are already showing.
“A lot of people are still visiting. It’s just not the normal amount,” The Shack manager Marie Archer said.
The burger and ice cream joint only had a third of their usual number of customers the day after the alert was issued.
Archer’s also heard of people leaving Waskesiu and had young staff members call out of work because their parents wanted to get out.
Despite the changes in business, Archer wasn’t stressed.
“Slower days are normal but … not ideal, of course,” she said, adding that even if people change their vacation plans, the restaurant will be fine so long as enough locals stay.
For Archer, the impacts from the wildfire aren’t anything different from what she’s seen before.
“We’ve had big power outages that are probably more significant to business than this. We’ve had adverse weather that usually keeps people away,” she said. “So it’s no different than any other sort of bad day.”
While Waskesiu is “only hazy,” according to Archer, she said some people had to leave to avoid the smoke.
“… our air quality is on par with that of the cities right now. You know, they’re also getting a lot of smoke,” she added.
The Shack manager Marie Archer has been living in Waskesiu full-time for four years and said fluctuations in business are pretty normal. (Theshackatwaskesiu/Instagram)
‘Preparedness is key’
Even though Archer wasn’t stressed about the current wildfire threat, she did voice concerns over the conflicting information being spread about the Buhl Fire.
“I’ve had people tell me that the fire is close to town. I’ve had people say the fire is not in the park. So, I think it really just boils down to misinformation,” she said.
Archer said people don’t really know what’s going on.
That confusion is in part because of the rapidly changing threat the wildfire poses to the townsite.
“It went from like zero to 100,” Archer said. “It was a normal day, and then all of a sudden, we were under pre-evacuation.”
In comparison to the wildfires that have destroyed communities in northern Saskatchewan this year, Archer said this situation is different.
“We have not been informed of a significant threat to life or property,” she said, adding that, “Preparedness is key. Overreacting is not.”
Active fires in the province on July 15, 2025. (Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency)
Fires in Saskatchewan on July 15
There were 48 active fires burning in Saskatchewan on Tuesday, down from 55 listed on Monday.
SPSA said in its daily report on July 15 that 12 of those blazes were not contained, while another 17 of the fires were under ongoing assessment and firefighters were protecting values in 15. Four fires were considered contained.
Contained means suppression action is taking place and the fire is not expected to grow in size, ongoing assessment means the fire is being monitored regularly to assess risk to values in the area and not contained means suppression action is taking place but the fire is expected to grow in size, according to SPSA. Protecting values means a fire is active and action is focused on protecting things like cabins and infrastructure.
Wildfires listed as not contained on Tuesday include the Shoe Fire in the Lower Fishing Lake area (554,667 ha or just over 137,0612 acres, first reported on May 7), the Pisew Fire west of La Ronge (193,266 ha or just over 477, 570 acres, first reported on May 21), the Wolf Fire west of Denare Beach (164,453 ha or just over 406,372 acres, first reported May 19), and the Ditch Fire north of Weyakwin (188,006 ha or nearly 464573 acres, first reported May 26.)
As well, fire bans are active in 20 urban municipalities, 33 rural municipalities and four provincial parks in the province.
SPSA says there have been 371 fires in Saskatchewan so far in 2025. The five-year average to date for Saskatchewan wildfires is 268.
— with files from Marija Robinson, 980 CJME
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