BEAUVAL — For the second time this year, members of Carlyle Fire and Rescue are providing support for forest firefighting efforts in northern Saskatchewan.
Four members of the department – Deputy Chief Rob Klassen, and firefighters Wayne Zandee, Jason Katona and Zane Vanderhulst – left for Beauval July 3 and arrived in the northwest community later that day. They also brought the department's wildland unit.
An evacuation order has been issued for Beauval and other communities due to the fires.
Klassen said he decided to go up north because there was a call for assistance and his employer gave him the green light to leave.
"I wanted to come up and help and do what I could," he said.
He expects they will be in the Beauval area for around 10-12 days. If their services are still required after that time, they will be relieved by another crew, which he said could be from Carlyle, Carnduff or Redvers.
"It really depends on what services are available," he said.
A contingent of firefighters from Weyburn was heading up to the Beauval area on July 4, he noted.
When he did the interview with SaskToday on July 4, Klassen said they were at the La Plonge First Nations, which is east of Beauval and has also been evacuated due to the fire.
"We're fire smarting the properties in the area," said Klassen. "We're making sure that the larger propane modes are closed. We're taking any flammables, any jerry cans and any propane tanks, and placing them away from the houses, so we're just trying to take any flammables away from the structures."
Klassen said it sounds like the communities are surrounded by fire, and one fire is approximately 50 kilometres wide.
"The weather is kind of co-operating with us today," he said. "It's overcast, cool. It is windy, so that part doesn't help."
Klassen added the other crews up north are good to work with.
Vanderhulst was among the firefighters from southeast Saskatchewan who went to Weyakwin earlier this year to fight fires in the northeast. The same wildland unit that went to Weyakwin has also been deployed in the Beauval area.
SaskToday will continue to have updates on the fire situation.
