Latest news with #RickLaliberte
Hamilton Spectator
19 hours ago
- Climate
- Hamilton Spectator
Beauval surrounded by fires but Mayor feels more confident
The Northern Village of Beauval is surrounded by the Muskeg Fire and other fires but Mayor Rick Laliberte said the community feels safe in spite of the challenging situation. Laliberte said the Muskeg Fire has made its way all around the community, but it's the area east of the community that's the biggest concern. 'It's slowly been creeping towards us from what originally was the Dore Fire and then it moved right to La Plonge,' Laliberte explained. 'That whole fire front is coming towards Beauval and the La Plonge reserve at English River.' He said the Trail Fire that is affecting Jans Bay, Cole Bay and Canoe Lake is also a concern. 'They've got it well contained from burning into the communities, but it's reached down to Keeley Lake to the to the south of us,' Laliberte said. 'We've been monitoring it because it could burn to the 155, which is our only access out of here.' He said several fires have merged to create one big fire and when the winds reach 50 kilometers an hour there are flare ups. 'We don't know where these flare ups are going to happen,' he said. 'It's been creeping up towards Patuanak as well, the same fire. It's also creeping up to Pinehouse. 'With Beauval, we're feeling relatively safe because the fire has completely surrounded us on the west side. We have the biggest fire break right now. It won't come back on itself, so we're feeling a little more confident than we were a week ago.' It's been nearly a month since Beauval was evacuated because of the wildfire threat, but Laliberte said community members might be able to return home soon. He said that he hopes to declare an end to the evacuation for July 30, depending on Monday's SPSA recommendations, when the village council will make a decision. Laliberrte said that the evacuees of the community are doing well. 'The community itself is okay. Our evacuees are in Saskatoon and Prince Albert and they've had a number of activities, like a Riders game the other night. They're in relatively good spirits, but very anxious to come home. 'It's been 25 days since they're gone. This fire flared up 29 days ago, just before Canada Day.' On July 3, more than 700 people were officially evacuated. On July 13, the fire came to the very edge of the village. Crews were able to prevent the flames from reaching any homes or essential infrastructure inside the village. Laliberte said they will announce the decision on Monday to extend or keep the evacuation in place. A decision had not been announced as of press time. Laliberte said they are concerned about the medical priority residents and how much service the community can provide. 'It will depend on the SPSA report and how much of this fire they've knocked down within our immediate region,' he said. Beauval receives an updated report from the SPSA at 3 p.m. each day Laliberte has been making announcements at 4 p.m. each day on local radio. He said conditions were like he has never seen before for drought. 'It's just drought conditions over here,' he said. 'Our Muskegs are dry, our creeks are dry, our lakes are dry, Beaver River is down low. With this drought that we're having, that's what's causing these fires to join.' He added that what is now the Muskeg Fire was about 12 smaller fires with different names. 'I have never seen these fires join before. We used to deal with one fire,' he said. 'I've never seen that phenomenon before and it's same thing happened in Flin Flon.' Laliberte said that community response is one way to help fight the fires before they are out of control. 'It's just a wild phenomenon so for us to adapt, I think we have to have initial response—early response—to these fires,' he said. 'As soon as lightning strikes we should be monitoring them. If there's campfires or a human losing track of their fire and they can't manage it, well, the community has to go put out that fire immediately because we can't wait for an assessment and SPSA to come and fight fires.' The Northern Village of Beauval has set up their own Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) and coordinator. 'SPSA is then charged with the responsibility of provincial action and resources. But we're finding that the local communities are not given the resources. We're not given planning resources or preparation resources for firefighting,' Laliberte said. Another change he would like to see is community wildfire fighting capabilities. He said that the jurisdiction and authority is different in the north with people respecting the traditional zones in Canoe Lake and Beauval as an example. 'That's why we're happy to go help a cabin owner or a ranch owner that's outside the village boundaries because they're our community. They're our family members,' he said. 'That's the reality of the north, the jurisdiction and authority is totally different on crown land than the way the south operates, and we're not given the resources. We don't have a tax base up here to afford these resources,' Laliberte said. He said that a new plan should be developed for emergency response of any type. 'We don't have the capabilities to deal with those potentially drastic situations, so preparedness is going to be top of mind with northern leaders,' he said. Laliberte said the federal government could also be given responsibility because of reserves, military communities that are under federal jurisdiction in the north. 'I think they should be afforded a big slice of the responsibility to give us the resources for this, because the lack of a tax base we can't buy a fire engine, we can buy a pump that will serve our community, so we're revisiting that whole process of how we respond ourselves from the community level,' he said. Laliberte thanked all of the international firefighters who helped with the response including the Australian crew that are now on off days since they have been on for 14 days straight. 'We also had a Quebec crew that was here during the fire fight in Beauval to save our community, so we want to say thank you to the Quebec fire crew,' Laliberte said. 'We also have a Mexican crew that came in and they're out there on the fire lines today (Sunday) at our camp here in Beauval,' he added. He also thanked an Ontario crew that takes management responsibilities from the SPSA. 'They've taken the Saskatchewan workers for a break because they've been going hard since May, but we have an Ontario fire team here that's taking command of these fires. They call it the complex fires now because there's so many fires on the West side, but they're stationed here in Beauval. We just want to say thank you to our international crews,' Laliberte said. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
CBC
a day ago
- General
- CBC
Sask. Mayor honoured with fire bear medallion for firefighting contributions
As fires were taking over the Boreal forest in northern Saskatchewan, Sandra Lynn Caisse Dennett wanted to bead a medallion of a bear that had the colours of fire. As Dennett put the finishing touches on her work, she settled on honouring one person's work with the medallion: Rick Laliberte, the mayor of Beauval, who Dennett said went above and beyond his duties to help his community. "To us, he is a true leader and hero," her written statement to CBC Indigenous said. Dennett said she witnessed first-hand the difference Laliberte's work had in the community; when the fires got out of control, "he was right in there." Dennett lives in the community of Beauval, Saskatchewan, which is 656 kilometres north of Regina, where forest fires have raged since early July. As community members evacuated with what they could, the Mayor stayed behind to help with the fires. Laliberte said he thought he was just going to take care of some pets at Dennett's home and he didn't know he would be honoured by her. "It was a complete surprise, but I gladly received it," Laliberte told CBC Indigenous. "All the beads that are on here, that's my entire team. Every bead is a person's effort here in our community." Laliberte said he's been hauling hoses, reclaiming fire pumps and hauling gas to the pumps, to keep up the sprinkler systems in the community. He's also used his boat to deliver gas, and transfer pumps to other locations. He said he and local fire crews are fighting fires late into the night, when winds die down and hot spots become more visible than they are in the day time. "That's the way the old folks did it, when grandparents and parents fought the fire at night," said Laliberte He said the fires have been travelling fast due to drought and the roots of trees are so dry, they're burning right down to the sandy ground. He said he's thankful his community is now safe from the fires and no homes were burned down. Now he's hoping for more rain. 'Their home as well' Laliberte said he's witnessed and heard of numerous acts of people saving animals while fighting fires, including three baby eaglets, unable to fly, which were saved by a waterbombing helicopter that dropped water on trees around theirs. When a baby coyote was injured on the side of the road, Laliberte said he and his wife took it home to try and help it. It survived and the next day it was picked up by conservation officers. "It's love, that's what it is, we love our people, but also our animals that we grew up with," said Laliberte.
CBC
14-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Beauval nearly surrounded as massive Muskeg fire grows
The mayor of Beauval, Sask., says the village is nearly surrounded by wildfire, as the massive Muskeg fire continues to burn out of control on three sides of the northern community. "This fire is all around La Plonge Lake and all the way into Beauval," Mayor Rick Laliberte said on Saturday. "It's not in control. We're defending Beauval and all the properties." Poor internet connection? CBC Lite is our low-bandwidth website. Laliberte said multiple instances of lightning have caused wildfires across the region, including at South Bay, Dore Lake and near the community of Jans Bay. "Well, those fires all became one. This is now Muskeg fire, and it goes all the way up to Lac Île-à-la-Crosse and towards Patuanak," he said. Laliberte said the community is now surrounded, with flare-ups still occurring in the forest nearby. "We're not knocking down this fire," he said. "And rain is the only way that we can beat it." Laliberte said that conditions remain dangerous and unpredictable, especially with shifting winds. "This is a relentless wind that we've been having and it's been changing direction. The fire moves east, the fire moves north, the fire moves south. It's just a moving fire. And that's how these fires all join." The fire came close to Beauval last week, prompting a mandatory evacuation and a massive effort to protect the community. "We woke up a giant somehow. That wind shifted at the right time to attack us and almost caught us off guard," Laliberte said. Laliberte said hotspots continue to flare up in areas around the village, and firefighters from Quebec have been attacking the fire, working alongside bulldozer crews and helicopters dropping buckets of water from the air. "It was a monster that came through, and it's tinder dry out there," he said. As of Sunday afternoon, no homes had been lost in the community. Laliberte credited the work of firefighters and outside support for saving homes. As of Sunday at 4:00 p.m CST, there were 57 wildfires burning across the province, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency. Just four were contained. News from across Saskatchewan for Friday, July 11, 2025. Firefighters in the northern village of Beauval are trying to hold off a fast-moving fire. A woman from Standing Buffalo First Nation has ended her 22 day hunger strike in front of the Regina landfill. A Regina man who has been living in his vehicle since January is one of the many voices calling for vacant housing units to be opened for those who need it. Current evacuation orders. Interactive Sask. active fire map. Fire danger map. Fire bans. Environment and Climate Change Canada weather alerts. Sask. Highway Hotline. Smoke forecast. Air quality. Tracking wildfires across Canada.
CBC
11-07-2025
- Climate
- CBC
Evacuees from Beauval, Sask., cling to hope after wildfire reaches town
Social Sharing When fire approached the northern Saskatchewan community of Beauval last week, it forced residents to flee their homes quickly, not knowing if they would be able to return. Then when news came Thursday that the fire had reached the village about 340 kilometres north of Sasaktoon, their worries intensified. Poor internet connection? CBC Lite is our low-bandwidth website. The Beauval emergency operations committee posted on Facebook Thursday evening that the fire destroyed a seasonal canteen building at the local recreation grounds. But as of Friday morning, Beauval Mayor Rick Laliberte confirmed no homes had been lost so far. That came as a massive relief to many, including longtime resident Shirley Martin. "We have awesome firefighters, awesome people up there that did an awesome job to save homes," she said. "I'm very grateful for those men and women up there for what they're doing." Martin left with her granddaughter on July 3 and has been in a Saskatoon hotel for more than a week. "At first I guess you could say it was OK, but being away from home for nine days is quite different," she said. WATCH | Wildfire enters village of Beauval: RAW | Wildfire enters village of Beauval, Sask., and begins burning property 3 hours ago Duration 0:59 Beauval, located 250 northwest of Prince Albert, Sask., has been evacuated after a wildfire entered the small village. Some people have stayed behind to fight the fire. Wendy Eldridge, a former deputy mayor of Beauval, has taken on the role of community liaison at the Saskatoon Travelodge, where many evacuees are staying. "There was lots of anxiety amongst us all yesterday," she said. "A lot of people have left pets behind and lots of people have family members that are on the front lines and volunteering back home." Eldridge says her daughter narrowly escaped on Thursday as the fire got dangerously close. "She had to literally drive through flames," Eldridge said. "She called me and she was scared. She said it was like out of the scene of a movie." While many of the evacuees are staying in Saskatoon, Eldridge says others have been sent to Moose Jaw and other cities. She says that while co-ordinating the evacuees has been "chaotic," she's working to keep them busy. "We've got lots of activities planned for the kids, and some for the elders as well." Eldridge said the community has come together to support each other. "There's been a lot of volunteerism. This is what people do when, when times are tough. You stick together." Despite the emotional toll, Martin said the strength of the community has helped carry her on. "We're all holding out," Martin said. "I know we're all going to go home."
CTV News
11-07-2025
- Climate
- CTV News
BREAKING: Flames reach the community of Beauval, Sask.
WATCH: A large wildfire has reached the community of Beauval, Sask. on Thursday A large wildfire in northwestern Saskatchewan has reached the community of Beauval. Beauval Mayor Rick Laliberte said the community evacuated essential workers and remaining residents around 3 p.m. Thursday. He said flames from the Muskeg Fire reached the village just before 5:30 p.m. Firefighters are on the ground protecting homes. 'It's just heartbreaking. We couldn't stop it. This wind is just relentless these last four days. The fire front was just too big,' Laliberte told CTV News. According to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, as of 11 a.m. Thursday, the Muskeg fire covered 33,967 hectares — nearly double the size of Regina. Beauval, Sask. is located around 450 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon.
