'Anguish is eating me up': Roaring fires, helping hands in northeast Saskatchewan

National Post

02-06-2025

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SMEATON — Marlene Barzeele steps through the door of the Smeaton post office. It's a busy place on a Friday afternoon. She's in a hurry. Like most people around here, she has worry in her eyes. Her need to help others overrides her obvious exhaustion.
The village along Highway 55 in northeast Saskatchewan is currently about 25 kilometres south of the largest wildfire raging in the province. This exceptionally fertile and picturesque region is where agricultural fields give way to dense boreal forest. The forest floor is dry, temperatures hot and the wind heavy. Ideal conditions for the spread of forest fires.
Marlene left her home at Little Bear Lake a few days ago, as locals in that area were told to prepare for evacuation. Her husband Bill is still up at the lake, working around the clock to save their house and property from the surrounding wildfire. Others are doing the same, and many are engaged in an exhaustive effort to save the Little Bear Lake Resort and other businesses. Some sought refuge in their boats on the water over the weekend, fearing the worst.
'We lost our house to fire three years ago,' Marlene said. 'It was devastating and agonizing. The community helped us so much at that time. Now, I can't sit by and do nothing. I have to help. All the people around here feel the same way. Anguish is eating me up. I have to do something. I want to cook for everyone.'
Once Marlene left her home in the forest, she was not allowed to return to Little Bear. There is no public access to the area being consumed by SHOE, a monster of a fire that has been out of control since early May. It began as a single fire, but merged with another. The merged entity has become progressively larger in recent days.
Marlene gathered up important papers and photographs before leaving Little Bear. Family pictures are special and must be preserved. She drove through 'smoky and fiery' areas on her way out of Little Bear and through Narrow Hills Provincial Park.
'Trees were ablaze,' she said. 'Leaving my husband there is almost overtaking me. I had to find a way to help. I am doing what I can to get food and supplies to those who need it up there.'
Her daughter, Heather Arsenie, and a friend, Constance Roussel, pitched in. The women are using their phones and social media to call for donations. The response has taken their breath away.
'The donations just exploded,' Marlene said. 'We were astonished by the response. They came in from campers, homeowners, people in the towns and on farms, dedicated cottage owners, even the grandchildren of cottage owners.'
Due to road-blocks there was no way to drive the supplies from Smeaton up to Little Bear. But Barzeele and her helpers were able to convince authorities to help out. Many heavy boxes of food and other supplies were transported by a Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency helicopter to the lake community.
'The SPSA was also very helpful with bringing in the equipment Bill and others needed, the pumps, sprinklers and hoses,' she said. 'Bill helped set things up on the docks, got the pumps and hoses connected and working.'
To date, the SHOE fire has reduced cabins and camper trailers to ashes, torched several campgrounds and left local people scrambling to save assets. Last week, the fire spread with such ferocity that it took down an SPSA command station, and forced the evacuation of 280 people involved in firefighting efforts.
Barzeele and others said a number of cabin owners remain with their property, water pumps and sprinkler systems trained on buildings and surrounding trees.
Reports posted on the Little Bear Lake Facebook site tell of a Saturday evening of extreme tension for those working to protect property and beat back fire. But over the weekend there was some good news.
In the early hours Sunday morning, Wally Knorr, owner/operator of Siberian Outfitters at Little Bear Lake, reported: 'It was a scary night, but all is good, actually very good.' He said the 'fire came in roaring' and narrowly missed his property. His business and the Moose Horn Lodge are safe.
The fire was 'burning insanely' and winds were 'insanely strong' throughout the night, he reported.
'We'll see what happens next,' Knorr added in his note. 'Those fires which crossed the road went to the lake, but a western wind might bring them toward us. And if it does, we will just meet it and have a serious conversation.'
By early Sunday morning there was good news from Bill Barzeele, who reported that contractors worked through the night attacking flare ups and managing spot fires, fighting threats with great precision.
'The wind is now in our favour, so they are hoping they can just continue to monitor things for the next little bit,' he reported to his daughter, Heather Arsenie, who posted on Facebook. Arsenie said in the post: 'I believe I finally heard an ounce of relief in my dad's voice.'
In a briefing on Saturday, the SPSA reported that the SHOE fire had grown from roughly 216,000 hectares a few day ago, to 305,343.
Roberta Strickland runs the post office in Smeaton. She cried as she expressed the 'pressure and stress' people in her community are under.
'I worry about my neighbours,' she said. 'My dad is 85 and in the care home. I worry about everyone in there.'
Strickland's job keeps her in touch with many in the area. Residents of Little Bear Lake, Pickerel Lake and Lower Fishing Lake get their mail in Smeaton.
'I'm afraid people will lose their homes,' she said. 'But we are supporting each other, coming together. At the lakes, people are really pulling together. Business owners and farmers in the area are taking their own equipment out to help.'
Strickland and others in Smeaton and Choiceland said the fires started suddenly in early May and were driven by 70 km/hr winds. Little could be done to prevent them. It took time to mobilize firefighting efforts, but it now appears that more resources are being amassed to attack the SHOE fire.
Cheri Kosowan, owner of Torch River Tavern in Choiceland with her husband, Doug, said the town's highly dedicated fire crew is among those fighting the blaze. She added that SPSA is in the process of setting up a camp for fire personnel at the sports grounds on the town's southeast corner. A drive by the location shows it to be in the early stages of set-up.
A number of people in Choiceland and Smeaton, some with grey hair, said they have never seen the fire season as destructive as it here in 2025.
'The fires are huge,' said a Choiceland resident who did not want to be named. 'It's getting hotter and hotter. It's like Earth is regenerating itself.'
The economic impact to the region is disastrous, Roberta Strickland indicated. 'The tourist industry is basically a write-off.'
In this region of Saskatchewan, where agricultural lands meet the boreal forest, the bush — its lakes, streams, campsites, trails, fish and game — is woven into the life of communities. The forest and all it provides in recreation, employment, food and fun, is fundamental to the culture and lifestyle of thousands living here.
People in First Nations, on farms, in villages and towns, have a deep attachment to the forest lands that are now going up in smoke. The destruction of the heart and soul of the region by fire is devastating. It shows on the faces of those who depend on it for their well-being.