Manitoba Highway 6 has reopened and electricity has been restored to northern Saskatchewan communities after a pair of major forest fires earlier this week.
Highway 6 reopened to traffic May 21 after a major fire burning west of the highway shrouded the area with smoke and threatened several nearby communities. That fire - called the EA044 fire by Manitoba Sustainable Development - is still considered "out of control" and is nearly 200,000 hectares in size as of May 21, but the road remains open.
A wave of cool, wet weather - including snow in some parts of Manitoba - has reduced the risk both of the EA044 fire and of several other fires burning throughout Manitoba. Fire-related backcountry restrictions in some areas of the province have been eased, though COVID-19-related restrictions remain in effect, as do COVID-19 travel restrictions barring non-essential travel into northern Manitoba.
Several forest fires remain active in central and southern Manitoba and fire danger conditions remain high in some areas, particularly in the Interlake and north Parkland regions. Seven forest fires are burning in the region, including six still considered "out of control" by Sustainable Development as of May 21. Five of those "out of control" fires are more than 7,000 hectares in size, according to most recent provincial and federal data.
Saskatchewan
Electricity was out for several northern Saskatchewan communities, including La Ronge, Candle Lake and others, for much of last week, but the juice is now back on.
Power was restored for the last communities affected by the power outage - Grandmothers Bay, Missinipe and Stanley Mission, all north of La Ronge - in the early morning hours of May 21, meaning all communities impacted by the outage were back on line. Other communities affected further south, including Waskesiu, Meath Park, La Ronge and others closer to Prince Albert, had their power restored shortly before midnight May 20.
The reason for the power cut-off was the Cloverdale fire, burning northeast of Prince Albert. The fire reached a size of about 5,500 hectares, but is now considered "contained" by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). People lliving in the area near the fire were temporarily evacuated, but are now returning home after doing so began to be considered safe by fire officials.
No injuries or deaths were reported due to the fire or power outage.
