2 downtown businesses burn in La Ronge, firefighters stop blaze from spreading
Embers from nearby wildfire set Rona ablaze, iconic Robertson Trading Post next door also burned
Two businesses in downtown La Ronge burned after embers from the nearby wildfire sparked a fire, but firefighters managed to contain the blaze.
The Rona store and the Robertson Trading Post have been destroyed, Mayor Joe Hordyski told host Stephanie Massicotte Wednesday on CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.
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"Fortunately, we've had so many fire departments from down south coming to help ... and they were able to contain it," he said.
"But if the fire would have went down a little farther and come across, it would have been catastrophic."
The City of North Battleford fire department sent a crew to La Ronge, where they helped battle the fire that destroyed the Rona store and Robertson Trading Post. (City of North Battleford)
Even though Robertson Trading officially closed Dec. 31, 2023, it had been opening periodically since then.
In a social media post Wednesday morning, the business operators said the destruction of the building caused a "profound sense of loss," as it was still housing the Robertson family's collection of Indigenous art and historical artifacts.
"To name a few items, the beaded moosehide jackets and moccasins, the birchbark baskets, the antler carvings, the original paintings, etc., represent thousands of hours of handwork done by talented Indigenous artists and craftspeople, and are absolutely irreplaceable," the post said.
There were layers upon layers of intricate Indigenous artwork and creations inside Robertson Trading, as shown in this file photo. (Kendall Latimer/CBC)
Residents of La Ronge, Air Ronge, the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and everywhere within a 20-kilometre radius were evacuated Monday as the Pisew fire approached from the north, and on Tuesday another notice went out for all non-essential personnel to leave town. Firefighters and an ambulance crew are among the few people left in town, the mayor said.
Hordyski said he's staying to support them.
"I couldn't in good conscience allow our firefighters to come in and battle, and desert them. I would not do that," he said. "I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure they're fed and housed, and a pat on the back when they need it."
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Hordyski said conditions were not favourable on Tuesday for larger aircraft to support the firefighting efforts, with wind gusts up to 87 kilometres an hour. A helicopter was able to help contain the fire to the two businesses, though.
Conditions are looking a bit better Wednesday. He hopes that with weaker winds, planes can get up in the sky and knock down the fire perimeter.
When asked what he wants evacuees from the La Ronge area to know, Hordyski said to remember that they'll get through it together.
"I want them to know that there's been a lot of hard-working people that's been working day and night to protect their community and we'll continue to do that and do the utmost we can, so they can return to their homes," he said.
Homes lost
Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson said some homes have been lost to wildfire in the communities of Sucker River and Hall Lake.
She said on Tuesday afternoon that 13 structures — 11 homes and two houses under construction — burned in Sucker River, north of La Ronge, and five homes burned in Hall Lake, west of La Ronge.
Community leaders meet in the emergency operations centre in La Ronge on Tuesday. (Tammy Cook-Searson/Facebook)
"We have fires everywhere and the fires are not letting up at all," she told host Peter Mills on CBC Radio's Afternoon Edition.
Cook-Searson said that another situation the band is dealing with is that the communities of Stanley Mission and Grandmother's Bay don't have power or communications, other than satellite phones or through Starlink.
She called the whole situation with the wildfires "devastating."
'Pretty dire situations'
It's not just active firefighters who are travelling to communities like La Ronge to help out.
Cliff Buettner was only two days into his retirement when he was called back to help fight Saskatchewan's raging wildfires.
"This is far beyond anything that I've experienced in my 40 years," said the former director of forestry and emergency protective services for the Prince Albert Grand Council.
"I've been in some pretty dire situations and this is some of the worst I've seen."
Saskatchewan has faced significant losses due to the unpredictability of this wildfire season, Buettner said, adding that the speed and intensity of the fires have not given communities much time to react.
A Facebook post from the Northern Village of Denare Beach Tuesday morning, for instance, confirmed that fire had destroyed everything south of Ninth Avenue to the reserve.
About half of Denare Beach, Sask., has been destroyed by wildfire. (Mark Pretzer)
"Timber transports embers that are being carried out by the convection and moved ahead of the fire, and that's what's perpetuating the fire with this wind," Buettner said.
Conditions on the ground, he added, have become "a dangerous game" for emergency personnel. Buettner said on Monday he lost contact with individuals on the ground who were within the fire boundary. They had to shut off their phone to conserve the battery until they made it to a safe place to communicate they were OK.
Farther south, the Saskatchewan First Nations Emergency Management in Prince Albert is offering Type 3 emergency personnel firefighter training — and locals are rushing to join the fight against the fires.
Type 3 firefighters are brought in as a relief for higher-level firefighters, while they attend to the more intense areas of a fire and contain it. They are responsible for suppression or clean-up once a fire is contained or laid back down to the ground. They are often brought in once a fire loses its intensity.
Brenda Roberts with the Prince Albert Grand Council, who has been helping to co-ordinate the training, said she's had over 100 applicants so far — one as young as 17.
"We've also had calls from people who have heavy equipment experience, Class 1A drivers, heavy duty mechanics — just to say that they're available," she said.
The training takes place over a four-day period and focuses on fire behaviour, fire operations, heavy equipment, aircraft, and everything a firefighter would need to know about the fire. It also goes over practical components such as the tactics used for firefighting, direct suppression and hose line hookup.
Roberts said while the current fire conditions in the province limit the responsibilities of Type 3 firefighters, they are trying to be proactive.
"What we're trying to do within the communities is to organize and identify those as units within the communities so the SPSA has that information if and when they would be allowed to participate in the active fire duty provincially," she said.
Over 9,000 people have been forced to evacuate from Saskatchewan's north due to wildfires. Premier Scott Moe said that number could reach 15,000 in the days ahead.
Saskatchewan communities now under evacuation order or pre-evacuation alert:
Air Ronge.
Brabant Lake.
Candle Lake resort village (voluntary).
Clam Crossing.
Creighton.
Denare Beach.
East Trout Lake.
Eagle Point.
English Bay.
Foran Mine - McIlveena Bay.
Hall Lake.
Jan Lake.
La Ronge.
Lac La Ronge Indian Reservation.
Lamp Lake.
Little Bear Lake.
Lower Fishing Lake.
Molanosa.
Napatak.
Narrow Hills Provincial Park.
Nemeiben Subdivision.
Pelican Narrows.
Piprell Lake.
Potato Lake.
Rabbit Creek.
Ramsey Bay.
Resort Subdivision of Ramsey Bay.
Sikachu.
Sturgeon Landing.
Sturgeon Weir.
Sucker River.
Timber Bay.
Wadin Bay.
Weyakwin.
Whiteswan/Whelan Bay.
This article, written by Hannah Spray and Aliyah Marko-Omene, was originally published for CBC News
Thumbnail image credit to City of North Battleford via CBC News.