NDP questions grounded bomber in La Ronge; wildfire damage assessments continue

On Monday morning, the Official Opposition questioned why a Conair Dash 8-Q400AT airtanker delivered to the Government of Saskatchewan on May 30 sat idle at the La Ronge airport, and in fact, had to be towed away from flames encroaching the airport.

Saskatchewan NDP Shadow Minister for Public Safety, Nicole Sarauer said, “The moment this plane arrived, the government should have brought it into action dumping water on the fires burning our communities.”

Public Safety Minister Tim McLeod said it wasn’t a situation where they had resources that were left on the table – or in this case, the tarmac. He said the first of the four planes being added to the provincial fleet arrived after a state of emergency had been declared.

“The pilots that had been training to operate that plane…had received all of the simulator training that they could up until that time, but to comply with Transport Canada regulations the requirement is that they would train on that particular aircraft and the operational decision was made not to remove those four pilots from active duty fighting fires, protecting our communities, so that they could train on the new plane,” said McLeod.

SPSA vice president Steve Roberts said they asked other provinces that operate the same aircraft, and also private companies, to see if they could lend any pilots.

“They did not have any spare pilots to lend [to] Saskatchewan. They were all operating in actual aircraft. So, nobody has a bunch of these pilots looking for work,” said Roberts. “They’re all gainfully employed, operating one of these aircraft.”

He said during an average wildfire season, the training would have been completed, but the unprecedented early start prevented that from happening. Roberts said a training pilot that was previously cancelled has been rescheduled to start in July.

Damage Assessments

The SPSA said it should know more details about damage assessments in Denare Beach by Tuesday, but they expect the number of structures lost in all of Saskatchewan to exceed 500.

In East Trout Lake, of the 312 structures lost, 58 were homes. The rest were things like sheds, trailers, quads or campers.

When asked whether the destruction in places like Denare Beach and East Trout Lake could have been avoided, Roberts said there are simply some wildfires that ‘cannot be wrestled to the ground.’

“I’ll be fairly honest in that there may be situations beyond our capacity. I mean fires that are travelling and being pushed by winds that are 50-60 kilometres are Rank 6, which means they’re running across treetops. There is not a person on the ground, a bulldozer available, or an air tanker that can slow those fires down.”

But Roberts said more could be done collectively to mitigate fire risk; communities near forests need to be fire safe and ready, and have their departments trained to build houses with materials that will resist embers.

“There’s a number of exercises we can take, but I think could we collective do more? Yes, we can,” he said.

Pritchard said the SPSA has been working with community leaders, government partners and social services in the recovery phase of the wildfire situation.

“To help those that need to be support when they return to their community and find that their residence has been destroyed…we will be working with those affected over the coming weeks and probably, in all fairness, over the coming months as we go through a rebuilding phase,” said Pritchard.

About 400 people remain evacuated from Creighton and Denare Beach, Resort Village of Wheland Bay, East Trout Lake and Priority 1 and 2 individuals from Cumberland House.

The Mayor of Creighton, Bruce Fidler, said in a social media post that he continues to put pressure on both the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments to expedite the reopening of health services in the region.

“This is a critical service that needs to be in place in order to provide a safe return to our region. We want to make sure we can ensure your safety if medical attention is required.”

Damage assessments continue as evacuees return to now typical scenes like this of charred forest and bush in northern Saskatchewan. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW)

Wildfires of Note

The Shoe fire is sitting at 554,484 hectares. The SPSA said crews extinguished areas around Piprell Lake and did direct attacks to the east and west of Highway 106. Structure protection equipment set up at Whelan Bay and Prudens Point has been tested. Crews in the north division also began brush work up Highway 927 to East Trout Lake.

Firefighters are finding hotspots as they walk the fire lines north of Brabant Lake by the road and towards the west of the Jaysmith Fire, which started on May 20 northeast of Missinipe. Some sprinkler systems will be left out there for the time being, and a helicopter will be used for bucketing when needed.

So far, the Pisew fire has charred 181,765 hectares. The SPSA said crews are working in priority areas to eliminate hotspots where values may be at risk. Helicopter support is being used on a spot fire near Besnard Lake.

The Wolf fire, which started west of Denare Beach on May 6, is 130,822 hectares on the Saskatchewan side. A scan was completed around the community of Denare Beach, and hot spot maps were given to help establish clearer objectives. Work is being done along Highway 106 and 167 north of the Phantom Lake area.

There are currently 13 active wildfires in the province, five are not contained.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

by Teena Monteleone

NDP questions grounded bomber in La Ronge; wildfire damage assessments continue

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Damage Assessments

Wildfires of Note

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