Northern Sask. wildfires forces thousands from homes, La Loche latest to evacuate

WATCH: Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan are forcing hundreds of more people from their homes. La Loche is now the latest community placed under full evacuatio

Wildfires in northern Saskatchewan are forcing hundreds more from their homes, with La Loche becoming the latest community under a full evacuation.

According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA), about 3,000 people have been displaced across the province, with 13 communities under evacuation.

The SPSA reports the Park Fire is 63,000 hectares – nearly three times the size of Saskatoon.

The fire led to the evacuation of the northern Village of La Loche, home to roughly 2,500 residents.

Over the long weekend, the La Loche Friendship Centre posted on social media that it provided food and water before three buses transported evacuees roughly 850 kilometres south to Regina.

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The SPSA said the Queen City was chosen to help keep families together.

“So, the choices were to maybe divide them between six or seven small communities and split them all up and have families broken up, or put them in a central location,” said Steve Roberts, vice-president of operations with the SPSA.

“In this situation, Prince Albert and Saskatoon were already full of evacuees from previous evacuations.”

Several volunteer fire departments stepped in to help fight the Park Fire. Meanwhile, CRCC Wildfire Saskatchewan deployed three wildland fire trucks to support the effort.

The organization’s president, Adam Hartle, said he’s thankful for the community’s support throughout the wildfire season.

“It’s been open arms. We’ve had people take our laundry and do our laundry for us. I mean, it’s just really been an all-hands-on-deck situation this year,” Hartle said in an interview with CTV News.

Hartle said his crews have since returned home, and he believes La Loche is not under an immediate threat of the fire.

The Northern Village of La Loche posted on social media Wednesday that despite progress on the fire, it has been advised to wait until the western side of the fire is fully contained before lifting the mandatory evacuation order.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 82 wildfires were burning in Saskatchewan. Sixteen were considered uncontained.