'It was like daylight in the middle of the night': Sask. woman speaks about fleeing fires
A nursing instructor says the flames and smoke from fires burning in northwest Saskatchewan were "shocking" to see.
KaSandra Kopytko had a first-hand look, as she was in La Loche, then Île-à-la-Crosse, then Buffalo Narrows, as the fire situation kept changing.
"It's just so shocking to see that much fire and how bright it is and how huge the flames are," Kopytko told host Stefani Langenegger on CBC Radio's The Morning Edition. "This fire is massive. I can't even explain how shocking it is to see these things."
Ultimately, she was in a convoy of 150 vehicles that travelled out of the area after Buffalo Narrows issued an evacuation order Monday evening, due to the poor air quality and power outages.
Because of poor highway conditions created by the fires, Kopytko said the community was "locked-in," then evacuations began for Level 1 and 2 people, which includes medically vulnerable people, elderly, children and pregnant women.
"The highway was not safe to drive on," said Kopytko. "There was fire on the highway or there was downed power lines, so you couldn't safely drive through that area."
The initial evacuation was supposed to be Sunday morning, she said, but was delayed until 10:30 p.m. Buses eventually made it through to pick the vulnerable people up and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) showed up with a pilot vehicle to lead the buses out.
LISTEN | A Regina nurse who works in northern Saskatchewan was forced to leave Buffalo Narrows due to wildfires:
Kopytko said that after that convoy left, the road was closed again. During the next 24 hours, Kopytko said there were attempts to get more people out of the community, but travel conditions were not suitable.
The next evacuation attempt was successful and Kopytko made it to Saskatoon. But it was harrowing.
"Driving through 10, 15, 20 kilometres of highway that is literally on fire, all of the trees on either side of the highway were burning — the fire was so bright and so hot, it was like daylight in the middle of the night," she said. "Smoke was so thick, we had to go very slow."
SaskPower says the power is now back on for those 2,500 affected by the outage.
Candice Evans-Waite spoke with Garth Materie on CBC Radio's Blue Sky about how she was affected by the fires. She used to live in Buffalo Narrows until moving to Saskatoon.
She still has close connections to the area because of family living there and is trying to do everything she can to help.
"We rounded up a couple generators and got them out on a truck for someone who was headed north to La Loche," she said.
Communication criticized
Kopytko said there was a lack of communication between the SPSA and northern communities.
"I just feel like the ball was dropped massively in helping these people to have a co-ordinated evacuation response that helped to service people in an organized way," said Kopytko.
SPSA president and fire commissioner Marlo Pritchard spoke about the level of communication during an online news conference Wednesday.
"Because there's stressful times, often the first thing that does go, is communication." said Pritchard. "And we always strive to increase our communication."
"We have emergency service officers in each community. Our protection officers, our district managers are meeting with community councils and community leaders, so we are engaged in the emergency measures organizations in those communities."
The SPSA has a phone number people can call for information about fire bans or evacuations — the wildfire inquiry line is 1-855-559-5502.
On Wednesday, the agency said it is supporting 47 evacuees in Regina, 113 in Lloydminster and 168 in North Battleford.
