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Wildfire erupts at Kimball Lake
A team effort and fortunate winds helped contain and ultimately extinguish a fire near Kimball Lake in the Meadow Lake Provincial Park. According to park manager Reg Bayko, the fire broke out around 3 p.m. last Wednesday (Oct. 7). By that night, however, things were pretty much under control. “The fire is currently under investigation, so there isn’t much I can say about how it started other than it was man-made,” Bayko explained. “It started in a grassy area and, because of the wind quickly spread to a nearby, previously cut jack pine stand. It was a log block. The very capable Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) took care of things the best it could and, because of the wind and utter dryness of the whole area, very little standing timber was impacted. It was basically a segment of a clear cut and the grass along the side of the road, which appears to be the point of origin.”
In total, the fire grew to about 64 hectares in size. “They got around it last night (Oct. 7),” Bayko continued. “They had five dozers on site and they worked all night to put a fireguard around it. They did a fantastic job of getting it contained. Right now, they’re in mop up stages, while there may or may not have been a helicopter show up to do some bucketing on some of the hot spots out in the open. There is no longer a concern if the fire spreading unless something really bad happens like some gale-force winds or something. They did a fantastic job getting it under wraps.” Among those to express concern about the fire while it was still ongoing was Sharon Hofer, owner of the Kimball Lake Store. “At 11:15 p.m. last evening (Oct. 7), the fire was still burning at Kimball Lake,”
Hofer wrote via Facebook. “Water trucks were still getting water from the lake, three D6 Caterpillars were still at work, but things looked better. The fire was headed south to the Waterhen River, not west to the store. I drove away feeling quite confident, when the sun rises, I’ll still have a store, the campers will have a campground to return to in 2027, the cabin owners will get a good night’s sleep and not be evacuated through the night, and the pines and beach will still be beautiful waiting to be appreciated and enjoyed by everyone. What a crazy day, but the story has a happy ending.”
Bayko reiterated this, stating the store and the nearby campground were in no threat of danger. “It was blowing the exact opposite direction, so the campground area was not threatened,” he said. “It would have if there had been a change in the wind, but that never happened.” And, while fire can happen at any time, Bayko said it is uncommon to see a wildfire break out at this time of year. “This is very unusual,” he said. “But, we had very little rain throughout September. It was nice weather, but we watch for these type of things as best we can. Considering the park is so massive, the forest structure and the grassland areas are always something we keep our eye on. This one just got a jump on us.” And, although the recent fire is deemed to be man-made, Bayko does not believe it was intentional. As such, he shared some tips with park visitors about what they should and shouldn’t do to help prevent a fire from starting. “Control what you do both in and out of your vehicle,” he said. “If you’re walking in the grass, please refrain from using any smoking materials and use common sense to prevent fire. It’s best to refrain from any sort of physical activity inside the tall, dry grass. That’s where most of the fires start right across western Canada – right in the ditch along a highway. The wind takes them and off they go. We saw that in great detail this past summer across British Columbia. A large number of their grass fires started right on the side of the road. Most of those were unintentional and I’m sure this one is too. But, we will have to see what the results of the investigation are.” Bayko also said the investigation could take some time. “The primary focus is to knock the fire down and get it under control before going back to the starting point to figure things out,” he said. “In the meantime, we are very appreciative of the effort by everyone who helped with this fire. We had a fantastic turnout in terms of help – both from our staff and from the SPSA. Everyone was also relatively cooperative, but we had to block access to the area because a lot of people showed up for a look. Bad things attract public interest, but we should be in the green now.”