Pelican Narrows, Sask. under general evacuation order over wildfire concerns

A general evacuation has been ordered for Pelican Narrows, Sask.

Leaders in the northern Saskatchewan community ordered the evacuation on Wednesday morning due to ongoing smoke and air quality issues from wildfires.

READ MORE: Special air quality statement for central and northern Saskatchewan

Emergency social services is preparing to receive an additional 1100 people, with 500 expected to be brought to Saskatoon and the remainder to Prince Albert.

The general evacuation order comes one day after 150 seniors and other with health concerns were evacuated to Saskatoon, along with at least 300 family members.

Rosann Bear and her five-year-old son Isaac were on the first school bus to arrive in Saskatoon early Tuesday evening.

Isaac “got a sore chest this morning. He has asthma problems, so we had to bring him out,” she said.

Three indoor soccer pitches at the Henk Ruys Soccer Centre have been converted into sleeping quarters, along with a fourth set up to provide food, supplies and other services.

“This is a fairly big centre to set up and we have a lot of help,” Deanna Valentine, provincial Emergency Social Services spokesperson, said.

Officials have been tracking the fire situation in the area and mobilized crews Tuesday morning.

“It takes a while. Probably a good six to eight hours to get this set up and be ready to receive people,” Valentine said.

READ MORE: Northern Manitoba wildfire forces evacuations in Saskatchewan

Twelve residents from the community of Birch Portage have also been evacuated and are staying in a Prince Albert hotel.

Due to the smoke in the area near the Manitoba border, Environment Canada issued a special air quality statement Tuesday.

“Local wind flow will still affect the distribution of the heaviest smoke, but in general areas in east-central Saskatchewan will see reduced visibilities and extremely poor air quality at times today and tonight,” the statement read.

Light easterly winds forecast for Wednesday may begin directing smoke into more areas in central Saskatchewan, according to Environment Canada.