By News Room
May 18, 2021 | 2:36 PM
The Vice President of Operations for the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency says the fire threatening Prince Albert and surrounding area has been named the Cloverdale Fire which started around 3 o’clock Monday afternoon off Cloverdale Road approximately 4 kilometres north of Prince Albert.
Steve Roberts says due to high temperatures and a 50 to 70 kilometres per hour wind, the fire grew throughout the day and into the evening. The Cloverdale fire currently encompasses 3,694 hectares. He says resources deployed include ground engine units, ground crews, multiple air tanker groups and heavy equipment which will continue to work on the fire throughout today.
Thousands without power as Sask. wildfire still days away from being controlled
Dry conditions and strong winds on Tuesday added fuel to the large Cloverdale wildfire near Prince Albert, Sask. More evacuation orders were issued Wednesday, and the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency said getting the fire under control was days away.
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No homes have been destroyed to date. The Prince Albert pulp mill has also been left unscathed.
Roberts said the fire came up to the edge of Aallcann Wood Suppliers’ operational site. The site itself is secure, but log decks in the area and an office trailer have been damaged by the fire, he said.
Positive news for power
Around 8,000 homes north of Prince Albert continue to be without power, but SaskPower spokesperson Joel Cherry said there were some “positive developments” Wednesday morning.
Electricity has been restored to 1,000 homes in rural areas between Spruce Home and Christopher Lake.
The main line which feeds Emma Lake, Montreal Lake, Paddockwood, Anglin Lake, Filion Lake, Grandmother Bay, La Ronge and Waskesiu remains down. But Cherry said crews have recently been cleared to enter the area – on Tuesday that was considered too dangerous because of the uncontained fire.
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SaskPower crews have been cleared to start repairing power poles damaged by the out-of-control forest fire north of Prince Albert.
Company spokesman Joel Cherry said 15 poles providing electricity to northern Saskatchewan were damaged in the fire, leaving about 9,000 customers in the region without power. Affected areas include Waskesiu, Meath Park, La Ronge and Stanley Mission.
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Workers were able to restore power for about 1,000 customers on Tuesday, but Cherry said Wednesday morning that about 8,000 remained without electricity. In the best-case scenario, they’ll have power back by Thursday, Cherry says.
SASKATOON With cooler temperatures expected to aid crews fighting a massive wildfire near Prince Albert, the fire s continued growth still led to a new evacuation order Wednesday mornng. The order was issued for residents of the Berg subdivision of the RM of Garden River as the fast-moving Cloverdale wildfire moved east away from Prince Albert. Since it began burning Monday the wildfire has forced families to flee, caused power outages and disrupted phone service. Prince Albert police said Wednesday that they issued tickets to two people who were allegedly found unlawfully inside the fire perimeter overnight Tuesday. A man and a woman, who didn’t have a home there, each received a $2,000 ticket, police said in a news release.