Most of the evacuees were from Pelican Narrows, where a 200-square-kilometre fire was burning about three kilometres away. Nearly 80 Sandy Bay residents with health concerns and their families left Wednesday. Pelican Narrows and Sandy Bay are part of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. Duane McKay, Saskatchewan emergency management commissioner, estimated in the conference call that there were more than 1,000 people still in Pelican Narrows. The advisory said numerous forest fires in northern Saskatchewan meant reduced visibility and poor air quality in that area.

Source: National Post August 31, 2017 17:07 UTC