Dozens of wildfire evacuees from the Pikangikum First Nation returned to northern Ontario on Tuesday and dozens more could follow, the Saskatchewan government announced on Wednesday.
Two flights out of Regina on Tuesday returned 41 evacuees to Ontario and another three or four flights could fly about 35 people each again on Wednesday.
“This suits us very well in the sense that our planning for for the eventual return of evacuees is well underway,” said Duane McKay, fire commissioner for emergency management and fire safety for the Saskatchewan government.
Just who gets to return to Ontario is decided by local leaders out east and depends on factors such as the needs of the person or community, for example, McKay said. There are about 2,000 people still on the First Nation.
Four-hundred twenty-four people were flown into Regina from Pikangikum, 757 kilometres southwest of the First Nation earlier this month.
If Wednesday’s flights do go ahead, there will be between 200 and 300 people remaining at the University of Regina until Ontario community leaders make the decision for everyone to return.
All departures from Regina will be charter flights, but there is no set schedule as they’re decided on by decisions in Ontario.
“Sometimes that availability for a plane changes from what we originally thought at the beginning of the day to what happened at the end of the day,” said Deanna Valentine, a coordinator within the Ministry of Social Services.
“So, we just go with that. We get people on the planes as they are arranged.”
The evacuees have access to both physical and mental health services, according to Sheila Anderson, executive director of primary healthcare services for the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
“We have had people to for in for dentist appointments and medical appointments and diagnostic appointments throughout the week as needed,” Anderson said.
Rainfall making its way east could help quell fires, hastening return efforts. The fire adjacent to Pikangikum lands, burning since May, sits at about 384 square kilometres in size, according to the Ontario government’s website.