Highway closures expand as P.A. wildfire grows

By paNOW’s Alison Sandstrom

The fast-moving wildfire burning northeast of Prince Albert continues to grow in size, according to the City of P.A.

This, as further Highway 55 closures were announced, along with SaskPower adding the widespread outage could take up to three days to resolve.

According to the most recent information available from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency — as of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday — the fire is currently 3,700 hectares in size or around 40 square kilometres. For comparison, that’s just over half the size of the City of P.A., which measures 66 square kilometres.

Earlier Tuesday, the SPSA reported the fire was moving away from the city.

Video taken Tuesday afternoon appears to show smoke continuing to move northeast, away from Prince Albert. Residents who were evacuated from the area are not allowed to return home at this time.

So far, the city has registered 50 evacuated households.

No damage to major structures or homes has been reported. Earlier on Tuesday, the SPSA said sprinkler units set up to protect residences and infrastructure had been successful so far.

Emergency personnel are in the area and continue to work to contain the fire and ensure public safety, the city said.

The fire has resulted in several road closures, including:

• Highway 55 is closed in both directions from Meath Park to Prince Albert. The Saskatchewan RCMP said motorists should use Highway 355 West at Meath Park and Highway 2 South instead.
• All major grids roads between Highway 55 and Highway 355 are closed and being used by emergency agencies to transport equipment and water.
• Ministry of Highways staff have also placed barricades at: Highway 55/Pulp Haul Road, Highway 55/White Star Road, West side of fire at JCT Pulp Haul Road and White Star Road, with a detour at Highway 2, Highway 355-01, Highway 55
• The Cecil Ferry remains open

The RCMP advised road closures are expected to last until at least Wednesday evening.

A map of impacted areas is available on the City of P.A.’s website.

The City of Prince Albert along with the RM of Garden River and RM of Buckland is encouraging all evacuees to register with the City as soon as possible.

Evacuees can register by calling the Margo Fournier Centre at (306) 953-4816 or in-person at 1211 First Ave W. The Margo Fournier Centre will be staffed until 9 p.m. Tuesday to register evacuees.

SaskPower outage continues

In an update provided by SaskPower, it said the wildfire has prevented them from getting to the affected area to start repairs on the line.

As soon as they have permission from the fire commissioner, they will enter the area to begin “round the clock” work to repair the damage. They plan on sending out all available personnel and equipment, including contract crews.

They anticipate the restore time for most affected customers is one to three days, but it depends on the condition of the conductor line and how many structures have been destroyed. SaskPower said 15 structures need replacing and believe more will be damaged as the fire continues.