“Shoe” fire continues to grow as Candle Lake nears completion on fire break

Evacuations from the “Shoe” fire which is now about 754,520 acres in size include Lower Fishing Lake, Piprell Lake, East Trout Lake, Little Bear Lake. Whiteswan/Whelan
Bay. There are now fifteen fires burning in Saskatchewan with seven not contained including the “Shoe” fire which also has Candle Lake on a pre-evacuation alert. However, the latest Situation report from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says the fire break around Candle Lake is nearing completion and looks good.

The “Jaysmith” fire north or Missinipe has helicopter, air tanker and float plane support after forcing the evacuation of Brabant Lake. The fire west of La Ronge which is now more than 151 thousand acres in size has helicopters bucketing it with water.

Helicopters are also supporting the “Wolf” fire west of Denare Beach but the SPSA says there are limited resources on this fire and people in the area who are refusing to leave are causing some issues with firefighting personnel.

Helicopters will bucket and Skimmers will be utilized to cool area near the road at Pelican Narrows to give crews a chance to fight the fire in the morning if visibility allows. The SPSA says the focus is on the south side of the fire using sprinklers and bladders. The Pelican 2 fire is more than 22,620 acres and in the course of a week has more than doubled in size. It forced one of the largest evacuations in the province.

The “Club” fire on the Saskatchewan side of the Manitoba/Saskatchewan boundary is almost occupies almost 62,000 acres and right now air tankers, the Creighton and Flin Flon Fire Departments and helicopters are all providing support. However, air support has been limited due to poor visibility. Some of the values in the area include the Co-op bulk fuel site and Highway 106. Creighton and Flin Flon have both evacuated.

The “Ditch” fire north of Weyakwin forced a critical alert Wednesday night with residents of the community scrambling to get out of town as the fire approached. It’s now just over 6,000 acres..

The vice-president of the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency spoke to reporters during an online media opportunity on Friday afternoon. Steve Roberts says the wind is the biggest challenge.