Operation Living Skies in currently underway in the Lac La Ronge Provincial Park. (Submitted photo/Eric Goodwin)

By Derek Cornet

wildfire recovery

Operation Living Skies underway in Lac La Ronge Provincial Park

Sep 24, 2025 | 1:57 PM

A specialized group of Canadian veterans, first responders, emergency management personnel and trained civilians are in La Ronge assisting with wildfire recovery efforts.

Team Rubicon Canada is an international non-profit disaster response organization that unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with first responders to rapidly deploy volunteers, free of charge, to communities affected by disasters. Following the devastating impact of the Pesiw fire in the region in June, the organization reached out to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency asking how they can help.

“The Lac La Ronge Provincial Park requested our assistance to have 12 chainsaw operators respond to open up 7.5 kilometers of the Nut Point hiking trail, which they deem as a signature hiking trail in the province,” Eric Goodwin, a senior chainsaw operator currently deployed to La Ronge, said.

“This falls under recovery and what that means is we respond in order to have these communities return to some sense of normalcy, so opening up a trail that is used by the local communities, as well as outside visitors, is critical to returning the Park to its normal state.”

Dubbed Operation Living Skies, the chainsaw operators arrived in La Ronge on Sept. 20 and will remain in the area until Sept. 28. They are a self-sustaining group and are using the Royal Canadian Legion building as a base. The volunteers have come from provinces across Canada from British Columbia to New Brunswick.

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Goodwin explained they have been making good progress clearing the Nut Point Trail.

The chainsaw operators in La Ronge as part of Team Rubicon. (Submitted photo/Eric Goodwin)

The team members come from communities across Canada. (Submitted photo/Eric Goodwin)

“There are six that are entering from the trail head … by foot,” he remarked.

“It is very demanding. The ground is very undulating and rocky. It’s a very hazardous area as we speak because of the burnt trees. The other six chainsaw operators attack the area by boat. They are going out by small craft and then coming from the opposite direction, so the strategy is for all the chainsaw operators to more or less meet in the middle of that 7.5 km of burnt and hazardous trees on the trail.”

Goodwin noted it has been a precedent setting year for Team Rubicon as they have now conducted six operations either back-to-back or simultaneously across the country. Some of the members just returned from Adam’s Cove in Newfoundland, where they were tasked with sifting through debris of homes destroyed by wildfire to find heirlooms such as wedding rings, military medals and urns.

Operation Living Skies marks their first visit to Saskatchewan.

“We have been welcomed with opened arms here. We’re working with the Park Service, so with the devastation, we are actually having a good time,” Goodwin said.

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com