Sask. wildfire evacuees sent to Kindersley for safety

Wildfire officials have issued an emergency evacuation order for the town of Burstall, Sask., the Rural Municipality of Deerforks and the town of Leader, Sask. due to a fire burning in the province’s southwest.

With winds gusting towards the northeast at 85 km/h as of 3:30 p.m., an emergency alert said the wildfire had the potential to cause emergency situations for the public.

Residents in Burstall, the south part of the R.M. of Deerforks and Leader are being told to evacuate the area and go to Kindersley.

“We’re asking everyone as they travel north along Highway 21 to meet the RCMP officers, who will be there to greet them and will direct them to the Elks Hall, which is located right off Highway 21and will be our intake centre,” said Bernie Morton, chief administrative officer and director of emergency preparedness in Kindersley.

Pictures from the area showed heavy smoke blocking out the sun as people left the region Tuesday afternoon.
Burstall Mayor Tegan Bodnarchuk told 980 CJME the fire was approximately three kilometres south of the town, with high winds exacerbating the situation.

Very dangerous driving conditions. Fire trying to jump the road and 0 visibility south of Bredenbury, SK. on Hwy 15 @PrairieChasers #skfire pic.twitter.com/89JUFHOoPL

— Sean Schofer (@SeanSchofer) October 17, 2017

Jim Hale, a farmer in the province’s southwest, also took photos from Lemsford — located about 82 kilometres to the east of Burstall — showing smoke blocking the sunshine.

“It’s all just dark grey smoke,” he said. “If it’s moving as fast as the wind is moving, it could be near (Lemsford) within a couple hours.”