One year ago this week, the Cloverdale Fire raged in Prince Albert. (Submitted Photo/Mark Zelensky)

By Rob Mahon

Cloverdale Fire Anniversary

Deputy fire chief recalls massive effort one year after Cloverdale Fire

May 18, 2022 | 12:00 PM

A lightning strike hitting a tree in Prince Albert started a fire last year that spread quickly and took days to contain. By the time it was done growing, its size could be measured in kilometers.

One year ago, the Prince Albert Fire Department and other organizations battled a gigantic fire that threatened the city. It started about 300 meters northeast of Evergreen Road, and caused evacuations for home and business owners north of Highway 55, East of Cloverdale Road and West of Honeymoon Road.

“We had a very significant fire that came through the city of Prince Albert, the residential area on the north side of the river,” said deputy fire chief of the Prince Albert Fire Department, Alex Paul. “It was referred to as the Cloverdale Fire, and it burned through the area that a lot of the residences were in.”

Starting on May 17, the fire took three days to contain, and Mayor Greg Dionne estimated it was as much as two and a half kilometers long and wide. Astonishingly, however, the fire spared a lot of the property that looked to be in its path.

“Fortunately, we didn’t lose any homes through that,” Paul said. “That was due entirely to sprinkler systems and the forest fire fighting efforts by the Prince Albert Fire Department as well as the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. Their wildfire teams did sprinkling, cutting trees, fighting fires.”

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Still, the sheer size of the blaze made battling it an incredible effort. By May 18, the fire had grown to 3,694 hectares in size.

“At that point, when a fire is built to that size, there is very little you can do,” said Paul. “Air attacks were a big portion of trying to slow that fire down. Then, of course we relied on the sprinklers in the area to raise the humidity. In the evenings, the fires typically die down because your humidity goes up and winds die down. A lot of the fire was stopped later in the day.”

The chance of similar fire starting this year is, according to the Fire Danger Index, low at the moment. Paul has said, however, that the spring and summer ahead are showing signs of being dry, which would raise the risk of wildfires.

Paul added that this year he hopes residents of the area will take some extra precautions to protect their properties and recommends checking Fire Smart Canada for tips.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP