Northern Saskatchewan residents continue to flee homes due to wildfires
Northern Saskatchewan residents are continuing to flee their homes because of wildfires burning near their communities.
Shaylee Gardiner, a Buffalo Narrows town councillor, said 535 people have fled the community as of Thursday morning.
According to the Ile-a-la-Crosse Facebook page, 855 people were on a evacuation list. That includes people who have left by bus or their own vehicles.
As of Thursday morning at 10 a.m CST, there were 24 active fires burning in the province and four were uncontained, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. Fire bans are in place across Northern Saskatchewan and most regions in the central area of the province.
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Environment Canada special air quality statements remain in effect for some regions in Saskatchewan including Prince Albert and the Battlefords, but have been removed for Regina and Saskatoon.
Communities evacuated
On Wednesday, the Buffalo River Dene Nation had 650 registered evacuees in Lloydminster, Sask. where they are set to stay until it is safe to return to the community, according to a news release from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.
On Tuesday, the English River First Nation evacuated 157 priority individuals to North Battleford, Sask. while the Lac La Ronge Indian Band evacuated more than 200 priority individuals to Prince Albert. Both of these evacuations were triggered by smoke in the community.
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Additionally the Canoe Lake First Nation evacuated the community to Alberta.
The Meadow Lake Tribal Council is supporting the Clearwater River Dene Nation with food and water after the First Nation was impacted by a four-day power outage.
These evacuation statistics provided by Indigenous Crown Relations and Northern Affairs are registered evacuees from the First Nations. There are likely more people who have left the First Nations on their own accord.
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This article was originally published for CBC News.