PHOTOS: Lush Ramsey Bay campground surrounded by charred forest

There is good news coming from La Ronge Thursday night, giving hope to thousands of evacuees.

According to an email from Lac La Ronge Chief Tammy Cook-Searson, local authorities are putting in place a plan that will bring people back home. She said the immediate fire threat has been contained near La Ronge, Air Ronge and Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

We will learn more about the timing of the return tomorrow morning.
 
The mandatory evacuation order stays in place until required services are ready, including all medical services back to the health centre.

Staying put in Weyakwin

Helen Hamm will never forget standing on her dock while watching a massive wildfire churn across Weyakwin Lake.

“When you see those fires or even hear them close by, you know. We were on one dock and you could hear the fire just roaring. That’s the scary part. It’s like a big whoosh. It’s loud,” Hamm, the owner of Ramsey Bay Campground, recalled about the day they got evacuated.

It was the only day during the entire ordeal she ever felt scared. Around Ramsey Bay, the road is bleak. An island is burned but the campground is green and lush.

In Weyakwin a week ago, the community was surrounded by a wall of fire and although fires still burn in the area, the immediate threat has passed and people are returning home. Evacuees from La Loche, Dillon, Michel Bay, St. George’s Hill, Ramsey Bay, Timber Bay, and Montreal Lake Cree Nation are also going home.

With the exception of one day, Hamm and her husband stayed behind because they were deemed an essential service.

“It was very eerie,” she said.

“We had some evenings were there was smoke but we were watering all over the place. My husband was watering the roads and everyone else was helping water places down.

Others watered down cabins to keep the fires away. No structures were lost in the fire zone.

“We were very blessed. It’s still nice a green here,” she said, adding she provided ice for the Weyakwin fire base.

Just three years after running the campground, Hamm said this year has been an experience of a lifetime.

“It was hard to leave to think that this might be gone when you came back. You see that and you think when you come back everything might be black.

Firefighters have told her the area is safe because everything surrounding her place is already burnt.
 
“When we came back the second time and we had a fire across our other dock, we just watched it nicely. I guess we are getting used to fires.

kmalone@rawlco.com

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