Wildfires seen from across the lake near La Loche overnight on Wednesday. (Facebook/La Loche Wildfire Update Group)

By Angela Brown

Evacuations in process

CRDN continues with evacuations; La Loche, CRDN still battling wildfires

May 4, 2023 | 2:40 PM

The communities of Clearwater River Dene Nation (CRDN) and La Loche in the North West region are still battling intense wildfires.

Clearwater evacuees were being loaded onto buses headed to Meadow Lake and Lloydminster early Thursday morning.

They will be staying at hotels in Meadow Lake and Lloydminster where there is more capacity.

People being loaded onto buses for evacuation in CRDN. (Submitted photo/ CRDN Councillor Roy Sean Cheecham)

CRDN Councillor Roy Sean Cheecham, who was helping fight the fires also, said about 80 to 100 people in total are being evacuated. About 47 to 57 were moved out on buses around 2:30 a.m. this morning, and another 25 to 30 more are on the list to be evacuated today.

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“The way it’s progressing today, a lot of people are either opting to go to their cabin or stay with relatives in La Loche on the opposite side of the fire,” he said.

The main reason for the evacuation is “there is only one main access road [to the reserve], and the fire was diagonally progressing towards that access road,” Cheecham said. “Rather than having people lose their only access route, we gave them the option to be evacuated.”

He noted another issue is the intense smoke that can cause respiratory problems for people.

“That is another reason [for the evacuation],” Cheecham said. “The wind is pushing the smoke towards the reserve – the more populated area of the reserve.”

He described the fire as running between the border of CRDN and La Loche.

“No homes were lost that I know of in the area,” Cheecham added.

He mentioned the firefighters are working long hours battling the blaze.

Meanwhile, La Loche continues to deal with its wildfires as well.

Fire Chief Derek Herman said no evacuations are planned for La Loche at this point.

“It’s getting hot and windy right now,” he said. “So far, the wind is going away from the town here. The fire is not picking up yet [in the La Loche area]. We’re still ok. The direction of the wind is going north now. So, it’s out of the way from the community.”

Herman said the wildfires were raging yesterday, but have subsided somewhat today, fortunately.

Firefighter crews from the province and local reserve volunteer firefighters are working on putting out the wildfires in both communities of CRDN and La Loche.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @meadowlakenow