Community creates copter care packages for people defending Little Bear Lake, Sask.
It took some sweet-talking, but Marlene Barzeele and her band of helpers managed to airlift a huge load of donated food into Little Bear Lake to feed the small crew of people who are protecting 150 homes and cabins from wildfire.
Barzeele said seeing the helicopter take flight might have been the first time she has felt joy since leaving her husband of 43 years behind so he could to defend their house and community last Thursday.
"It's been agonizing knowing that he's there. And I wished that I stayed, but he insisted that I leave. So that's why we had to figure out a way to help," she said.
Marlene's husband Bill Barzeele, 72, is the oldest among the small team of volunteers who stayed at Little Bear Lake, 140 kilometres northeast of Prince Albert, as the unpredictable and aggressive Shoe Fire burned dangerously close. The men patrol the perimeter, douse hotspots and pump water onto properties.
"My husband is with the other people who are working to keep those hoses and pumps working at people's docks just to make sure that yards are wet," she said.
WATCH | Property owners douse hot spots and build firebreaks at Little Bear Lake:
People also removed flammable materials, like propane tanks.
"They're like bombs when they overheat," said Marlene's daughter, Heather Arsenie. "That was an incredibly smart thing to do."
The volunteers have been joined by some professional firefighters, helicopters, heavy equipment operators and other contractors employed by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). The Delta Company has installed sprinklers on every cabin.
The Shoe Fire, which started on May 7, merged with the Camp Fire and has grown to more than 2016,000 hectares. This week, it burned dozens of homes and cabins at East Trout Lake. The wildfire continues to split and morph, fuelled by wind, moving around the lake, jumping a fire guard, even threatening the landing strip.
"It's miraculous that the community has been saved to this point," she said.
Food delivery by air
Marlene, now staying with her daughter in Melfort, receives daily reports from Bill from the front lines and shares them with others.
The Barzeele family has owned property at Little Bear since 1981, and she and her husband have lived there full-time since 2006.
Feeling helpless, and concerned that food was running low, Marlene posted on Facebook on Tuesday that she wanted to organize a food hamper delivery for people protecting their community.
She was flooded with e-transfers and donations from people who have connections to the lake, including frequent campers, cabin owners, and even grandchildren of cabin owners who have fond memories of childhoods at the lake.
Marlene and her helpers ordered individually wrapped sandwiches, and bought snacks and other ready-to-eat food items. They picked up donations from business owners who have cabins at the lake, like Sauder's Home Hardware in Melfort.
"I really don't want to take credit because there have been so many donations from everyone. It's overwhelming," she said.
But getting the food hamper into the community would be another challenge. All roads were closed due to fire.
"We were told that only contractors listed with SPSA were allowed to go through the roadblock," she said.
After some discussion and phone calls at the roadblock, they were allowed to go to the helicopter pad. They got the food in the air, then delivered to the Little Bear Lake store and distributed to workers.
WATCH | Food airlifted to Little Bear Lake by helicopter:
On Friday, the group posted that it was sending their fourth load of food and drinks up. It had spent nearly $5,000 on supplies so far, and more e-transfers were still coming in.
"Even more inspiring, we're also sending a separate load dedicated to our brave neighbours in Moosehorn, standing strong through challenging times. Let's continue to show them what community spirit looks like!" Arsenie posted on Facebook..
As of early Friday morning, a lot of forest had burned around Little Bear Lake, but no cabins had been destroyed.
Marlene, who admitted she's been crying and stressed, was reluctant to do an interview, but agreed to speak with CBC News because she wants to shine a light on the bravery of people who are working so hard to defend the community, and to ask for more supplies and more firefighting resources.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
Timber Bay evacuated from wildfires, residents return to Canoe Lake
Firefighters in the province have made little gains on controlling the wildfires scorching northern communities during a dry, hot period. The latest community under evacuation orders: Timber Bay residents were alerted Sunday morning to leave immediately, according to the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA). The order was issued Sunday at 10:55 a.m. for the 81-person hamlet that straddles the east shore of Montreal Lake. Residents were told to self-evacuate by driving 490 kilometres south to Regina on Highway 969 and Highway 2, and to meet SPSA staff at the Meridian Inn and Suites at 3800 Harbour Landing Drive. The largest active blaze in the province is known as the Shoe fire, located east of Timber Bay. As of Sunday, it was 305,000 hectares in size and has moved north, said SPSA vice-president of operations Steve Roberts at a Sunday news conference. The fire has also put the communities of Molanosa, East Trout Lake, Whelan Bay, Narrow Hills and Little Bear on evacuation alert, added the SPSA. A mix of high daytime temperatures, warm evenings and high winds has presented challenges to the teams fighting to contain the blazes around the province. 'This (weather) will drastically impact our ability to contain some of these fires and will actually cause some of these fires to grow in size over the next period of time,' Roberts said. The public safety agency says the estimated number of evacuees is still around 8,000, and ihopes to keep that number stable. An estimated 250 to 500 residents in the Canoe Lake area were told it was safe to return to their homes on Sunday. 'Our crews were able to contain that fire and prevent it from encroaching on the (Canoe Lake) community, even though it did near the community. The biggest concern is it was blocking the only access in and out of the community,' said Roberts about the return of residents to Canoe Lake. The SPSA said it was dealing with 15 active wildfires as of noon Sunday, with one struck off the roster from the day before. Eight of those fires are still not contained. Those spots are spread across the central and eastern parts of the province from Weyakwin to Creighton. Four fires are contained in central and western regions, with SPSA making gains to extinguish a contained fire from Saturday. Two of those wildfires remain under ongoing assessment and one is classified as protecting values. The province has had 214 wildfires so far in 2025. It's well above the five-year average of 129, according to Roberts. The Wolf fire, near Denare Beach, 'has grown significantly,' Roberts said. Meanwhile the Pelican 2 fire near Pelican Narrows was 'aggressively moving last night' south and eastward, restricting highway access. The fire activity near Creighton was also estimated to grow on Sunday. Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) joined the provincial government on Saturday in declaring a state of emergency, with plans to provide supports to its displaced citizens. 'These wildfires are spreading so unpredictably, and citizens are being evacuated with little or no notice and no destination in place. They're leaving behind their homes and their livelihoods with little more than uncertainty ahead,' MN–S president Glen McCallum said Saturday in a statement. The MN–S said response teams will work alongside provincial and federal partners to ensure Métis people fleeing the wildfires have access to 'culturally-grounded services, supplies and shelter.' 'Our citizens are the heart of our nation,' McCallum said. 'We must be able to respond to their needs so that when they arrive at safe locations, they are welcomed with as many comforts from home as we can provide.' The provincial Métis council will work to amplify critical updates and provide supports on the ground wherever most helpful, it said. Saskatchewan premier says more evacuations likely if current weather persists 'These are devastating': Dispatches on the Saskatchewan wildfire situation The Regina Leader-Post has created an Afternoon Headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox so you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. Click here to subscribe. With some online platforms blocking access to the journalism upon which you depend, our website is your destination for up-to-the-minute news, so make sure to bookmark and sign up for our newsletters so we can keep you informed. Click here to subscribe.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
'This is classic climate change': Sask. faces worst wildfire season in decades
Saskatchewan is battling the worst wildfire it's seen in decades — including the 300,000-hectare Shoe Fire in northern Saskatchewan — and experts say it's largely caused by climate change. "This is classic climate change," said Colin Laroque, head of soil science and professor at the University of Saskatchewan. Laroque said climatology is studied using 30-year timeframes of weather patterns, which "weren't that different" until recently. "If you're that 20, to 25, to 30 year [age], you're experiencing something that we've never really experienced before." Laroque said the question of whether this year is abnormal is relative. "It's in the more recent past, this is normal," Laroque said. "This is our new normal." He said if he were to ask someone his grandfather's age, or his father's age, they would find it "very unusual" to have forest fires this early. "These are things that we traditionally saw more in June, July and later summer, when everything dried out and then the fires took off," Laroque said. Saskatchewan is making its way out of a relatively dry period. Few places had snow for long periods of time over winter. In the past, "snowpacks" would take time to fully melt and trickle into the ground as it warmed up. This would recharge the moisture of the soil. "What's happening the last few years is that we go from a relatively cold period of time and one or two days later it's plus 22 [C]," Laroque explained. The extreme back-and-forth causes the snow to melt rapidly while the ground stays frozen, not allowing the snow to fully sink into the soil. Laroque said most of the snow ends up evaporating, causing "instant drought," similar to what the province experienced in spring 2024. "Then the trees rehydrated, sucked up a lot of the ground moisture and then everything is just ready to be burned," he said. He also noted Saskatchewan's forest and grasses were mainly brown from the dry weather and made great fuel for grass fires. Lori Daniels, professor and researcher at the University of British Columbia's department of forest and conservation sciences, said the emergency wildfire situation in the province is the result of an emergency global climate situation. "The further we are from the equator, we're seeing that those changes are amplified," Daniels said. "In Northern Canada and the northern parts of our provinces and up into the territories … we're experiencing more than three times what the global average is in terms of temperature change." Daniels said climate change is "the new reality" and it's unclear how long the province will be dealing with these fires. "We need substantial rain to wet down our ecosystems, dampen these fires, and make our ecosystems more resistant to fire for the rest of the summer," she said. "But there is a chance if we don't get the weather patterns that bring that rain, some of these fires may persist for a very long period of time." Not all is lost. Many ecosystems in Canada have adapted to large fires, Daniels said. "They are tremendously resilient natural systems," she said. "The seed banks that are sitting, you know, deep in the soil, the roots that kind of persist in the soil underneath, will re-sprout and begin to regrow even after fairly intense fires." There are also many shifts in tree species that surround the areas of a fire. Daniels said trees like broadleaf, conifer and needleleaf tend to grow in quickly. "Fire can also be a rejuvenating force," she said. Daniels said some Indigenous communities have used fire as a part of their land stewardship. "We are now learning in Western Canada from our Indigenous collaborators and Indigenous knowledge holders that there was tremendous value in using fire, 'low intensity fire' or 'good fire'," Daniels said. In the spring and fall, a specific type of fire would be used by some Indigenous communities to burn off fuels that have accumulated over a couple of seasons to stimulate understory plants and to remove the density of trees. "You're still maintaining a forest ecosystem around you, but you're changing the amount of fuel."
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
'Resources stretched thin,' Premier Scott Moe says, as Saskatchewan wildfires rage on
Premier Scott Moe says Saskatchewan's ability to fight a plague of wildfires across the province is reaching the breaking point. The premier was joined by officials from the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency at a news conference in Prince Albert on Saturday to update the current wildfire situation. The province continues to experience one of its worst starts to the wildfire season on record. More than 500,000 hectares have burned in wildfires across the province so far this year. "Resources are stretched thin because of the severity of the situation that we're facing and the intensity and the proximity of the fires," Moe told reporters. "Just can't have another fire." People need to be absolutely careful about accessing areas close to the wildfires, as these are incredibly stressful and challenging times for those in northern Saskatchewan. Sixteen active wildfires in the province have led to at least 17 evacuations, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Sandy Oosterlaken from the village of Denare Beach, where there is an evacuation order, said she had about 30 minutes to leave her home. But as she was told to leave, her husband was trapped on the other side with no access to essentials. "My husband was trapped on the other side of the barricade with no pills, no food, no nothing. They wouldn't let him come to me to evacuate," she said. Oosterlaken managed to get to him, but now the couple are in limbo trying to figure out where they're going to go. They have no idea where to spend the night and for how long. "We're trying to register with Saskatchewan Red Cross; I've tried numerous times," she said. She hasn't been able to register with any of the evacuation organizers so far. "Worse happens, we're sleeping in the car. We'll just keep traveling from town to town to town to town till hopefully we find something," Oosterlaken said, adding that first they're headed to Saskatoon. The Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation has declared a state of emergency for the community of Sturgeon Landing due to wildfires. It's issuing a mandatory evacuation order because of heavy smoke from a wildfire burning in Manitoba and the increasing threat to road access in and out of the area. The First Nation says all community members must evacuate immediately and that evacuees must meet at the Wanless Store, which will serve as the staging area. From there, it says, a convoy will travel to The Pas, Man., with support from emergency personnel to ensure a safe evacuation. If anyone is evacuating by private vehicle, they are urged to follow the convoy and not travel alone. Wildfire smoke is also affecting other communities in the province, with air quality warnings in place for areas including Saskatoon, Regina, Prince Albert and Estevan. The province's largest fire, the Shoe fire, has burned 305,000 hectares, which is about 13 times the size of Saskatoon. Smoke from that fire has been threatening communities, including the resort village of Candle Lake. WATCH | Resources stretched thin as wildfires rage, Sask. premier says: The community experienced thick smoke over the last few days, but according to the latest update, the fire is "moving more slowly toward Candle Lake." "However, wind and weather conditions can change quickly, and our pre-alert evacuation and voluntary evacuation notices remain in effect," according to the update at 10 a.m. Friday. The Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency (SPSA) said that resources are being deployed to mitigate the fire, including type 1 and type 2 fire crews, helicopters, local fire departments and heavy equipment. Communities evacuated due to the Shoe fire include Lower Fishing Lake, Piprell Lake, East Trout Lake, Little Bear Lake. Whiteswan/Whelan Bay. Parks Canada has issued a closure for areas within Prince Albert National Park due to the wildfires. It's restricting all backcountry areas in the national park, Kingsmere Road west of Narrows Peninsula Trail; Elk Trail and the Valleyview network of trails, excluding the Valleyview easy and moderate trails; all of Crean Lake, including Crean Kitchen campground and day-use area, excluding Hanging Heart Lakes. Visitors are being asked to respect the closures to reduce the risk of igniting new fires. SaskPower said in an update that wildfire conditions are disrupting repair work for the outage in some northern communities. Crews have been forced to stop work in Deschambault Lake, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Jan Lake, Creighton, and surrounding areas. As of Friday morning, crews had been unable to resume work in those regions safely. In La Ronge, Southend, Brabant Lake, and McLennan Lake, similar challenges are being reported. SaskPower said Friday that crews are en route to continue repairs to address the outage, but no estimated time of restoration is currently available due to the ongoing wildfire threat. On Friday, the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) also declared a state of emergency, joining the provincial government as more citizens are forced to flee their homes with little or no notice. "These wildfires are spreading so unpredictably, and citizens are being evacuated with little or no notice and no destination in place. They're leaving behind their homes and their livelihoods with little more than uncertainty ahead," MN–S president Glen McCallum said in a statement. The MN–S government said it has mounted response teams to assist in fire zones, is providing culturally grounded services where possible, and is co-ordinating with provincial and federal partners to ensure Métis citizens have access to support. Saskatchewan is under a provincial state of emergency due to wildfires. That means the province can access more resources and call for support from different levels of the government. Eleanor Olszewski, the federal minister of emergency management, said in an interview with CBC News Network on Friday that Manitoba has called for a "request for assistance" from the federal government, but Saskatchewan has not made a similar request yet. She said that the Royal Canadian Air Force is helping those remote communities in Manitoba evacuate to Winnipeg. "I did speak with my counterpart, my provincial counterpart Tim McLeod, this afternoon and he advised me that the situation in Saskatchewan is manageable at the present time," she said. "In the event that federal resources are required, we're absolutely prepared to step up and help," Olszewski said. The premier said the province requests different resources from different locations, depending on the need. "It's about the resource that you actually require.... The federal government traditionally doesn't have water bombing support. If they did, we would be requesting," he said. Moe said the final decision of making a call for a "request for assistance" is in the hands of SPSA president Marlo Pritchard and vice-president of operations Steve Roberts. "It's definitely a part of that contingency planning, but it is one of the last steps," Pritchard told reporters. The Cub fire north of Creighton is at 25,000 hectares as of Saturday afternoon. Officials said it is very close to the community and there was significant 'action' last night due to southern winds. "The priority is to continue to protect the communities of Creighton and Denare Beach," Pritchard said. He said that numerous fire departments, including volunteer firefighters, have been sent to those communities to help protect them. Up-to-date info on active fires, smoke and related topics is available at these sources:
