‘Very tough’: Northern Sask. evacuees adapt to city life as wildfires threaten their communities

Allison Bamford has the latest on the threat of wildfires a community is Saskatchewan is facing.

Two days ago, Wendy Eldridge didn’t know if she would have a community to go back to.

Flames breached the northern Saskatchewan village of Beauval on Thursday night, shortly after the last bus of evacuees left. A concession stand and vehicle burned, but the rest of the community was spared.

As of Saturday afternoon, flames still threatened the village on several fronts, officials said. A fire burning to the south and hot spots to the north and west pose risks.

“It’s very stressful,” Eldridge said.

When she learned of Thursday’s imminent threat, Eldridge instructed her daughter to grab important documents from their house and take as many photos as possible in case everything went up in flames.

“It was right on people’s doorsteps,” she said.“It was heart-wrenching to watch and see on social media.”

Eldridge is serving as one of the community liaisons during the evacuation. She’s busy coordinating activities for the evacuees staying in Saskatoon hotels, trying to make the tough situation feel as normal as possible — especially for those who’ve never been in the city before.

“It’s very trying on a lot of our community members. They’re not used to being away from home for this length of time,” she said.

By helping others, she says she’s also keeping her own mind off the wildfires.

“Anybody who knows me knows that I’m a worker bee,” she said, adding that several others have stepped in to help as well.

Beauval and neighbouring communities remain under a state of emergency that will last at least another week, which means evacuees won’t be able to return home until July 18 at the earliest. The evacuation order could be extended, depending on advice from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, said Beauval Mayor Rick Laliberte.

“The fire is not out. It’s not controlled by any means,” Laliberte told CTV News.“This is a defensive fight, but it’s not putting out the fire. That’s going to take rain — it’s going to take a lot of rain to do that.”

Helicopters continue to fly overhead, and firefighters are putting out hotspots in the forest.

Less than 10 kilometres west of Beauval, a fire is threatening the community of Jans Bay, forcing more highway closures.

About 100 kilometres north, priority residents had to be airlifted out of Patuanak after flames forced the closure of the only road into the community.

“We’re surrounded by fires — literally 300 degrees around Beauval,” Laliberte said.

The area received a bit of rain on Saturday, which the mayor said is offering hope. Crews are watching both the forecast and wind direction closely.

If winds shift from the north, as expected, Laliberte said the fire could flare up again.