'It's like a ghost town': Waskesiu businesses take hit after wildfire pre-emergency alert

CBC

3 days ago

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A restaurant owner in Waskesiu, Sask., says wildfire smoke near Prince Albert National Park is causing confusion and panic, and hurting local businesses during their busiest time of year.
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Erin Barber, who owns Happy Campers Bar and Grill in the lakeside resort community, said she supports public health advisories, but believes a recent emergency alert about smoke was misunderstood by many as a fire evacuation notice.
"There's no fire evacuation going on," Barber said. "So as far as we are all concerned, the media has created widespread panic and we are now losing out as businesses."
Parks Canada issued a wildfire pre-emergency alert on Sunday evening due to the Buhl Fire burning about 40 kilometres away from the Waskesiu townsite, located about 200 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. The alert warned of deteriorating air quality and visibility from smoke, and encouraged people with lung conditions, young children or elderly residents to consider leaving temporarily.
Barber said her restaurant has seen a sharp drop in business since the alert. She said many visitors packed up and left the community Monday morning, even though there has been no official evacuation order and no immediate threat to the townsite.
"It was busy. It was like a normal summer day," she said. "And now it's like a ghost town."
Barber said she understands why vulnerable people might choose to leave, but that public messaging should have been clearer.
"There will be an emergency alert that goes out that every single person will get if there's any risk to the townsite," she said. "That hasn't happened."
'Not as bad as people would think': Waskesiu Trading Company
Further up the road, the general manager of the Waskesiu Trading Company said the smoke in Waskesiu is not as bad as people perceive.
"We're still actually able to just barely see across the lake there right now,"Jason Carroll told CBC early Tuesday morning, lifting his phone to show what looked like a light fog in the air.
He said the community had "nice clear skies" Monday until smoke kicked in toward the afternoon, "but still not as bad as people would think."
The pre-emergency alert was a surprise to Carroll, who said conditions are much worse elsewhere.
"I've talked to some people over the phone who are in Prince Albert," said Carroll. "The smoke is actually a lot worse there than what it is here."
While the business is still running as usual, it is a lot quieter than is typical on a day in July.
"It's like how it is in spring and fall," said Carroll, who has baked at the business over the last five summers. "Definitely a dip down for sure compared to usual."
Carroll said the alert won't take as large of a toll on his business, which often serves food to firefighters in these kinds of situations, as it will for non-food related businesses like the local gift shop and liquor stores.
He said there could have been better communication around what the alert really means.
"I feel like from my understanding the alert was more for the smoke, for people with, you know, asthma, the elderly, stuff like that," Carroll said. "[Tourists] are worried about the fire rather than the smoke."
David Archer, co-owner of the Waskesiu Trading Company, echoed the need for better communication from Parks Canada.
He said the wildfire travelling in the community's direction is not likely, based on previous years.
"Winds tend to move westerly in this part of this area," Archer said.
He said there should be daily updates to better inform businesses and visitors.
"People plan their vacations months in advance," he said. "Let them continue with their life and make informed decisions."
Parks Canada speaks on evacuation confusion
Greg Walker, an incident commander for Parks Canada, said the alert was issued as fire encroached into Prince Albert National Park.
"Although there's no immediate threat to the communities of Waskesiu and the nearby outlying ones, there still is a threat from the wildfires up to the northeast of the park," Greg Walker said on CBC's Saskatoon Morning Tuesday,
He said the park may not be a stranger to wildfires, but weather conditions are different this year.
"There's a long standing drought in this area of the country. And so the wildfire activity and extreme fire behaviour that's happened throughout the province of Saskatchewan, Manitoba this year is related to that," Walker said.
Walker said Parks Canada wants to be proactive in its evacuation efforts. He said a pre-emergency alert makes things run smoother if a full evacuation order is issued.
"If we evacuate, there will be congestion. There will be people with special needs, will be susceptible people," Walker said. "The other pieces, the air quality and the smoke is going to affect some people."
In the meantime, Parks Canada has brought in specialists, including the Saskatchewan Public Safety Association, to present a unified front in fighting the fire.
"We expect the communications to improve. We'll dedicate a number of people to that and the communications will become quite a bit more regular," Walker said.