Both Saskatchewan and Manitoba are under states of emergency.Liam Richards/The Canadian Press
After fleeing the rapidly spreading wildfires abutting her north-central Saskatchewan community, Sandra Thompson found shelter hundreds of kilometres away from the shores of Lac La Ronge at a friend’s apartment in Saskatoon this week.
As she closed her eyes in bed, however, what came was not sleep. It was exhaustion and deepening anxiety. All she could think about was home – what little of it may remain, and when or if she would be able to go back there again.
“If only people knew how devastating this feeling is. How it doesn’t seem to leave you, like you’ve been thrown into a movie about your life and have no control over anything,” Ms. Thompson told The Globe and Mail. “I’m grateful that I survived and found a safe place. But it feels like I’ve lost everything, anything that was ever mine.”
Across the country, more than 200 wildfires are burning, mostly in Western Canada. As of Wednesday, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have evacuated upwards of 30,000 people, with both provinces under states of emergency.
Among the dozens of areas affected by fires is Ms. Thompson’s town of La Ronge, from where nearly half of Saskatchewan’s 15,000 evacuees are now displaced.
Known locally as the Tri-Community, the 20-kilometre radius around La Ronge includes the main town surrounded by boreal forest, its nearby airport, the village of Air Ronge and the Lac La Ronge Indian Band. The area is a central hub for mining and health care, connecting Saskatchewan’s far north with its more populous southern half through a major highway.
Air quality warnings are in effect for much of northern and central Manitoba as the province responds to 27 active wildfires, with a risk of more to come later in the week.
The Associated Press
On Wednesday, as firefighters continued to battle the encroaching flames, many structures were destroyed in La Ronge. That included several local businesses, plus hundreds of Indigenous artifacts housed at the Robertson Trading Post.
Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations at the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said the situation at the airport was so intense that firefighting aircraft had to be relocated as a dispatch unit was burned.
“Because of the smoke conditions, all of the aircraft that were operational in La Ronge were actually moved to other bases,” Mr. Roberts told reporters at a briefing.
He said Saskatchewan has also brought in a helicopter that is dropping firefighting gels around La Ronge.
Equipment is scarce, however, with Manitoba and Alberta also increasingly requesting resources, Mr. Roberts said.
“If we were the only player in town, it would be easy to get an extra 100 firefighters or two extra water bombers or an extra helicopter.”
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As the province responds to 24 active wildfires, Mr. Roberts said he has never seen a more severe season in his 21-year career. At least 243 fires have been recorded this year, well over Saskatchewan’s five-year annual average of 135.
“We need rain, and we need a lot of it. A light shower is not going to help us because it will probably be accompanied by lightning,” he said.
Ms. Thompson said she remembers the long line of vehicles at the gas stations shortly after she quickly packed her bags to leave La Ronge Monday. “My lungs remind me every other minute – all those fumes I inhaled,” she said Wednesday.
“But I still want to go back. I just want my home again.”
Around 18,000 people have now been evacuated in Manitoba.The Canadian Press
Jordan McPhail, Saskatchewan’s MLA for Cumberland, agreed. Escaping with his family from their community in La Ronge, he said, was the scariest experience of his life.
“I was in a convoy of cars with everyone else, seeing all that smoke, just trying to help,” he said from Saskatoon. “I’m just thankful we’re all safe. But my mom has still been there, working to help as a frontline health care worker.”
In Manitoba, around 18,000 people have now been evacuated, as the province contends with 27 wildfires. Some rain is forecasted for later in the week, but the precipitation will be too little and there is significant risk of more fires, officials said.
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More full-scale evacuations were ordered Wednesday for the northern area around Sherridon, Man., where a 112,185-hectare fire is out of control. Nearby, in Snow Lake, a 48-hour evacuation alert has also been ordered, with residents told to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice and Toronto-based Hudbay Minerals suspending its site there.
“We’re trying to prepare,” said Snow Lake Mayor Ron Scott. “The fire seems to be pulling closer, so all we can do is give people the option of leaving early. The last thing we want is for anyone to be left behind in a panic.”
Around 5,000 people have been evacuated in Alberta, but officials said Wednesday that some residents – such as from the northern town of Swan Hills – may be able to return home soon. The province has 51 active wildfires, 25 of which are out of control, though many are smaller in size than in other provinces.
British Columbia, meanwhile, had at least 65 wildfires burning Wednesday, with evacuation orders in place for a handful of communities near the B.C.-Alberta border.