Still waiting: Handful of Sask. communities remain under evacuation orders
CBC
The mayor of Creighton says residents will have to remain patient, as the northeastern Saskatchewan town waits for health-care services to restart in the neighbouring city of Flin Flon, Man.
Bruce Fidler said he knows residents who evacuated three weeks ago are anxious to return home. And while wildfire isn't an immediate threat, safety is still a concern.
"The most important one is medical service and support," he said in an interview on Tuesday. "It's very difficult for us to allow anybody back in until we have that up and running."
Fidler said he couldn't commit to any kind of timeline on when that will be. While more than 10,000 residents from other parts of Saskatchewan have been allowed to return home as evacuation orders have been rescinded, both Creighton and nearby Denare Beach remained under evacuation orders as of Tuesday.
The communities rely on the neighbouring city of Flin Flon, just across the border in Manitoba, for health services. Flin Flon Mayor George Fontaine said on Monday that people shouldn't expect to go back "before a week from now … but that would be your bare minimum."
Residents in the area were ordered to evacuate on May 28 due to wildfires that ended up coming right up to the edges of both Flin Flon and Creighton. While no structures have been lost in those two communities, a significant portion of Denare Beach was destroyed.
WATCH | Sask. wildfire evacuee watched home burn in real time on security cameras:
Fidler said firefighters have managed to push the fire away from Creighton, but there are "constant flare-ups and hot spots" that appear. Services like water and power are still functioning.
The Northern Village of Denare Beach said in an update posted on Monday that water and sewer services have been restored there, and SaskTel is in the process of restoring phone lines. There is no official date for residents to return there yet.
Evacuated Creighton residents have expressed their frustrations to Fidler, and he said he sympathizes.
"I can understand that they're very stressed out, very impatient. Everybody wants to come home, and I just want to let them know that we are working very hard to make sure that it's a safe return," he said.
Two other Saskatchewan communities remain under evacuation orders due to the fire activity nearby.
Whelan Bay and East Trout Lake were both evacuated in late May due to the Shoe and Camp fires, which have since merged. Crews are still actively fighting hot spots in that area, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency's wildfire situation update posted online on Tuesday.
"Repatriation is always a community decision, made by community leadership. The SPSA continues to work with community leaders to assess risks and safety concerns," the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
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