VIDEO: Montreal Lake First Nation declares state of emergency

Montreal Lake First Nation has declared a state of emergency and wind-whipped wildfires engulfed their community and burned two buildings to the ground.

Chief Edward Henderson, along with Prince Albert Grand Council chief Ron Michel and Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chief Kim Johnathan, made the announcement Saturday afternoon after fire ripped throuh the community Friday night and forced fire crews to abandon their work until morning.

“A demand for immediate action is requested of the government of Canada, including the military, and the government of Saskatchewan in controlling the wildfires threatening the communities at risk,” a statement reads.

“Everybody’s safe, but we just couldn’t take on Mother Nature today,” Henderson said Saturday morning.

“There was no stopping it — four water bombers, two helicopters bucketing, crews on the ground doing whatever they could, but we just couldn’t do anything when the wind picked up.”

Henderson said when the massive wall of flames was less than a kilometre away, he and other leaders decided to pull everyone — firefighters and volunteers — out of the community, about 250 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

“It was like having a fire pit right in front of you and all around you, we had fires on the east side, we had fires on the south, we had fires on the west side, we had fires on the north, so we booted it out of there.”

Fires in Montreal Lake and Weyakwin forced crews to evacuate to Prince Albert for the night, but essential crews have since returned to the communities.

“The wind got stronger, trees were falling, fires were just flaring up and there’s only so much that we can do. We couldn’t save the houses that were burnt,” a Montreal Lake firefighter, who was not allowed to give his name, said, adding a couple people received minor injuries.  

As they left, they saw two houses burn. Henderson said it was terrifying.

“We lost two houses so far, but material stuff can be replaced, we were blessed that we didn’t lose any lives at this time so we’re grateful,” Henderson said.

He added that he and other officials hoped to return to the community Saturday to assess the damage.

“Hopefully it will be safe for us to go back and see what’s standing,” he said.

As of Saturday morning, there were 114 wildfires burning across northern Saskatchewan. High winds, thunderstorms and hot temperatures sparked nine new fires Friday night. The province has had 563 fires this year.

“If we compare this to last year there were only 193 fires at this time last year so we’re looking at triple the fire loading on the landscape,” executive director of wildfire management with the Ministry of Environment Steve Roberts said. 

Roberts said fires also burned down three structures in Wadin Bay on Lac La Ronge and one structure in Weyakwin. Fire also came within two kilometers of Pine House but no buildings have been damaged and crews have set up heavy equipment and sprinklers to keep the flames at bay.

He said heavy smoke had grounded air bombers and is hampering efforts to contain fires around affected communities. 

A week ago, about 1,000 residents of Montreal Lake were evacuated to Prince Albert due to the approaching fire. Henderson said about 20 volunteers stayed behind to watch over the homes and take care of pets left behind.

The province says 5,588 evacuees are receiving help from the government, however more may be staying with friends and family.

Fifty-one towns, villages and reserves around La Ronge and La Loche have been evacuated or partially evacuated as a precaution due to either nearby fires or harmful smoke.

More than 600 firefighters are in the area, including some from Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and South Dakota.

With files from The Canadian Press, News Talk’s Lasia Kretzel and paNow’s Alex Soloducha